.-,^-^-..,^^ 


[  Whole  yumhcr  252. 

UNITED  STATES  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION. 
CIRCULAR    OF    INFORMATION    NO.    1,   1899. 


CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  AMERICAN  EDUCATIONAL  HISTORY. 

KJDITEl)     JiY-   IIEIilJERT     li.    AUAMS. 


gJlSx  OF  Pf  i*^ 

No.  23. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION 


IN 


NEW  JERSEY. 


KV 


DAVID    MURRAY,   Dli.    D.,    LL.    D. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE, 
1899. 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Letter  of  transiiiitt;il 5 

Chapter  I.  Early  education  iu  New  Jersey 7 

II.  Dowu  to  the  organization  of  the  State 21 

III.  Movements  iu  behalf  of  public  education 29 

IV.  The  perfected  system 40 

y .  Notes  on  early  text-books 50 

A^I.  Secondary  education  in  tlie  counties 63 

VII.  Educational  reminiscences.     By  Eev.  Duvid  Cole,  D.  D 102 

VIII.  The  middle  of  the  century.     By  Dr.  .To] in  Bodine  Thompson 107 

IX.  Priuceton  University.     By  Prof.  Jolm  De  Witt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 199 

X.  Eutgers  College.     By  Prof.  David  D.  Demarest,  D.  D.,  LL.  D  . ..  287 

XI.  Seton  Hall  College 303 

XII.  Stevens  Institute.     By  President  Henry  Morton 307 

XIII.  New  Brunswick  Theological  Seminary.     By  Rev.  Eilward  J.  Cor- 

win,  D.  D 313 

XIV.  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.     By  Eev.  . I.  H.  Dulles 322 

XV.  Drew  Theological  Seminary 343 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Theodore  Frelinghuy sen .- Frontispiece 

Log  schoolhouse 30 

Horn  book 50 

Memorial  Hall,  La wrenceville,  N.  J  . . . '. 84 

Upper  House,  Lawrenceville,  N.  J S4 

Peddie  Institute,  main  building 86 

The  old  kitchen  schoolhouse . .  108 

A  dame  school 136 

The  studious  boy  and  the  idle  boy 162 

Princeton  University: 

Dickinson  Hall 222 

Nassau  H  all 228 

Marquand  Chapel 244 

Cliancellor  Green  Library 2.")2 

Alexander  Hall — front 258 

James  McCosh 272 

John  C.  Green  School  of  Science 278 

Alexander  Hall  entrance 278 

Browne  and  Dod  Hall 284 

Bird's-eye  view  of  buildings  of  Stevens  Institute 308 

Part  of  main  machine  shop 308 

Foundry  and  blacksmith  shop 312 

Corner  of  the  testing  room 312 

Electrical  laboratory 312 

Drew  Theological  Seminary  : 

Hoy t-Bo wne  Hall 344 

Cornell  Library  building 344 

3 


Chapter   I. 

EARLY    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 


The  first  impulses  which  education  received  in  the  State  of  ISTew  Jer- 
sjiy  came  from  several  distinct  sources,  corresponding  to  the  different 
streams  of  immigration  which  flowed  into  her  territory.  The  earliest 
of  these  streams  was  the  Dutch,  who  overflowed  from  Manhattan 
Island  into  the  neighboring  lands  west  of  the  Hudson  River.  The 
second  was  the  immigration  which  came  from  New  England  and  settled 
the  region  along  the  Passaic  Eiver  and  westward.  A  third  consisted 
of  the  English  and  Scotch,  who  in  large  numbers  entered  at  Perth 
Amboy  and  spread  over  the  central  portion  of  the  State.  And  finally 
there  were  the  Friends,  who,  following  the  fortunes  of  William  Penn, 
came  in  large  numbers  and  settled  the  southern  and  western  portions 
of  the  State.  All  these  elements  of  the  early  population  of  New  Jer- 
sey', difiering  widely  from  each  other  in  motives  and  characteristics, 
had  yet  this  one  mark  in  common — that  they  came  to  their  new  home 
with  a  firm  conviction  of  the  value  and  importance  of  education. 

Few  of  these  early  immigrants  were  themselves  illiterate,  and  they  all 
held  iu  just  regard  those  provinces  in  the  New  World  where  they  might 
enjoy,  or  might  freely  create  for  themselves,  facilities  for  the  education 
of  their  children.  An  unusual  proportion  of  them  possessed  what  was 
then  termed  a  liberal  education,  and  had  come  hither  with  convictions 
on  the  subject  of  religious  liberty  and  the  rights  of  self-government 
which  were  not  in  accord  with  the  ruling  powers  at  home. 

Note  by  the  Compiler. — I  desire  to  make  grateful  acknowledgmeuts  iu  coimec- 
tiou  with  this  work  to  Mr.  George  A.  Plimpton,  of  New  York  City,  who  i)nt  :it  my 
disposal  liis  collection  of  old  text-books,  and  who  prepared  for  me  the  valuable 
contribution  Avliich  will  be  found  in  the  fifth  chapter.  I  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
interest  in  the  subject  of  my  volume  Dr.  David  Cole,  of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  and  Dr.  John 
Bodine  Thompson,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  who  were  both  active  in  the  movements  which 
led  to  the  reforms  in  public  education  in  New  Jersey  during  the  middle  years  of  the 
century.  At  my  request  each  of  these  busy  men  has  fiirnislied  a  valuable  contribu- 
tion concerning  his  experience  in  tliis  stirring  i)eriod.  To  the  persons  wlio  have 
prei)ared  sketches  of  the  several  educational  institutions  of  the  State  I  desii-e  here 
to  express  my  warmest  tlianks — to  Dr.  John  De  Witt,  for  his  historical  sketch  of 
Princeton  University;  ^o  Dr.  David  D.  Demarest,  for  his  sketch  of  Rutgers  College; 
to  President  Henry  Morton,  for  his  sketch  of  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology ;  to 
Dr.  Edward  T.  Corwin,  for  his  sketch  of  the  New  Brunswick  Theological  Seminary 
of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  in  America,  and  to  Rev.  J.  H.  Dulles,  for  his  SKetc'i- 
of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

1 


8  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

I.   DUTCH   SETTLEMENTS. 

The  Hollanders  who  settled  Mauhattan  Island  pushed  across  the 
Hudson'  and  formed  settlements  at  Bergen,  Commuiiipaw,  Hoboken, 
etc.  At  all  their  little  communities,  without  doubt,  they  established 
schools  as  well  as  churches,  as  they  are  known  to  have  done  at  New 
Amsterdam.  The  Collegiate  Church  School,  which  still  maintains  a 
prosperous  existence  in  New  York,  was  founded  by  the  Dutch  in  1G33 
in  connection  with  the  church  which  they  had  brought  with  them. 
And  so  in  the  Dutch  connnunities  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson 
wherever  there  was  a  church  established  there  was  sure  to  be  a  little 
school  where  the  children  could  be  taught  at  least  the  rudiments  of 
education.  If  the  church  was  too  poor  to  employ  a  separate  teacher, 
then  the  pastor  himself  officiated  as  schoolmaster,  and  deemed  his  time 
well  employed  in  training  up  the  little  men  and  maidens  of  his  charge 
so  that  they  could  read  and  understand  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the 
catechism  of  the  church. 

In  Dunshee's  History  of  the  School  of  the  Collegiate  Eeformed 
Church  of  New  York  City  we  find  quoted  the  resohition  adopted  by  the 
synod  of  Dort,  and  which  represents  the  attitude  of  the  Holland  Church 
toward  education,  both  at  home  and  abroad.     In  part  it  is  as  follows: 

Schools  ill  which  the  young  shall  be  properly  instructed  in  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  shall  be  instituted  not  only  in  cities,  but  also  in  towns  and  country 
])]aces  where  heretofore  none  has  existed.  The  Christian  magistracy  shall  be 
requested  that  all  well-qualified  persons  may  be  employed  and  enabled  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  service ;  and  especially  that  the  children  of  the  poor  may  be  gratui- 
tously instructed  and  not  be  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  the  schools.  *  »  * 
The  schoolmasters  shall  instruct  their  scholars,  according  to  their  age  and  capacity, 
at  least  two  days  in  the  week,  not  only  causing  them  to  commit  to  memory,  but  also 
by  instilling  into  their  minds  an  acquaintance  with  the  truths  of  the  catechism. 

It  is  plain  that  the  Dutch  tried  to  establish  in  the  New  World  the 
institutions  which  had  long  been  the  pride  of  their  own  laud  at  home. 
In  1647  Director  Stuyvesant  writes  to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  "for  a 
pious,  well-qualitied,  and  diligent  schoolmaster."  "Nothing,"  he  adds, 
"is  of  greater  importance  than  the  right  early  instruction  of  youth." 

In  1664  we  find  an  ordinance  passed  by  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam, 
as  follows: 

Whereas  it  is  highly  necessary  and  of  great  consequence  that  the  youth  from  their 
childhood  be  well  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetick,  and  principally 
in  the  principles  au<l  fundaments  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  conformity  to  the  les- 
son of  that  wise  king,  Solomon,  "Learn  the  youth  the  first  principles,  and  as  he 
grows  old  he  shall  not  deviate  from  it." 

Then  the  ordinance  directs  the  stated  catechising  of  the  children  each 
week.' 

'  It  may  be  said,  in  .justification  of  my  use  of  the  Dutch  attftude  toward  education 
in  New  Amsterdam  as  illustrative  of  education  in  eastern  New  Jersey,  that  until  the 
cession  to  the  English,  in  1664,  the  Dutch  province  of  New  Netherlands  was  under- 
stood to  include  what  afterwards  became  New  Jersey.  The  same  general  policy  in 
reference  to  education  was  pursued  in  the  one  part  of  the  province  as  in  the  other. 

-  Duushee  \k  30. 


THE    FIRST    SETTLERS    AND    EDUCATIOX.  9 

Even  at  that  early  period  many  of  the  iiiliabitauts  desired  a  Latin 
school,  for  the  better  education  of  their  children.  A  petition  was  sent 
for  such  a  school  to  the  West  India  Company  iu  1G58.  The  petitioners 
represent  that  in  the  present  circnmstauees  they  are  compelled  to  send 
their  children  to  the  schools  of  New  England  in  order  to  obtain  for 
them  adequate  advantages.  They  ask  that  a  competent  person  be  sent 
out  to  open  such  a  school.  Accordingly  Dr.  Alexander  Carolus  Cur- 
tius  was  dispatched  and  began  a  Latin  school  for  the  petitioners  in 
New  Amsterdam.  But  he  was  not  successful  in  his  venture;  he  failed 
iu  the  matter  of  discipline,  and  returned  to  Holland.  Kev.  ^Egidius 
Luyck,  who  had  come  over  with  Director  Stuyvesant  as  the  tutor  of 
his  children,  undertook  to  supply  the  ])lace.  11  is  effort  was  entirely 
satisfactory,  and  under  him  the  school  rose  to  great  distinction,  and 
scholars  came  to  it  from  Virginia,  Fort  Orange,  and  Delaware.' 

The  adjoining  Dutch  settlements  in  New  Jersey  were  not  forgotten 
or  neglected  in  respect  to  their  schools.  The  village  of  Bergen,^  oppo- 
site New  Amsterdam,  which  was  then  a  part  of  the  New  Netherlands, 
had  a  school  as  early  as  1661  or  1662.'  In  a  petition  to  the  director- 
general  and  council  the  sheriff  and  magistrates  of  the  village  of 
Bergen  set  forth  that  Engelbert  Steenhuysen  had  contracted  to  keep  a 
school  for  their  village  and  to  serve  as  church  clerk  (voorleser);  but 
that  owing  to  the  quartering  of  a  soldier  upon  him  and  the  laying  of 
a  tax  upon  certain  property  owned  by  him  he  had  resigned  his  school 
and  his  clerkship.  They  therefore  ask  that  the  said  Steenhuysen  be 
comi)elledto  fulfill  his  contract.  It  is  a  comfort  to  learn  that  the  recal- 
citrant Steenhuysen  was  held  to  his  contract. 

Again,  at  a  council  meeting  held  in  1673  the  sheriff  and  magistrates 
of  the  town  of  Bergen  presented  a  petition  "requesting  that  the  inhab- 
itants of  all  the  settlements  dependent  on  them,  of  what  religious  per- 
suasion soever  they  may  be,  shall  be  bound  to  pay  their  share  toward 
the  support  of  the  precentor  and  schoolmaster."'  It  was  so  ordered  by 
the  council.  But  it  appears  that  this  ordinance  did  not  have  its  antici- 
pated effect;  for  in  1674  we  find  the  sheriff  and  magistrates  complain- 
ing "that  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  dependent  handets,  in  dispar- 
agement of  the  previous  order  of  the  governor-general  and  council, 
obstinately  refuse  to  pay  their  quota  to  support  the  precentor  and 
schoolmaster."  Whereupon  the  previous  order  was  reaffirmed  and  the 
sheriff  ordered  "  to  proceed  to  immediate  execution  against  all  unwilling 
debtors."^    Dr.  Pratt  quotes  some  further  complaints  and  explanations 

'  Dunshee,  ji.  33. 

2  Bergen  is  supposed  to  have  been  settled  about  1658. 

^  In  1664  Governor  Philip  Carteret  granted  to  Bergen  a  charter,  among  other 
things  authorizing  tlie  freeholders  to  maintain  a  church  and  a  school:  and  a  tract 
of  land  was  given  on  tlie  following  condition:  "For  the  minister,  and  the  keeping 
of  a  free  school  for  the  education  of  youth,  as  they  shall  think  fit,  which  land,  being 
once  laid  out,  is  not  to  be  alienated,  but  to  remain  and  continue  forever,  from  one 
incumbent  to  another,  free  from  paying  of  any  rent  or  any  other  rate  or  taxes  what- 
soever.'"    (Dr,  B.  C.  Taylor's  History  of  Church  of  Bergen,  p.  56.) 

^Pratt's  Annals  of  Education  iu  New  York,  p.  60. 


10  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

concerning  this  dispute;  but  it  was  linally  settled  that  the  dependent 
hamlets  should  pay  their  share  of  the  school  tax.     He  then  remarks : 

The  foregolug  action  on  the  part  of  the  governor  and  council  seems  to  have  fully 
settled  and  confirmed  the  policy  of  the  Dutch  administration  in  regard  to  free  public 
schools  supported  solely  by  taxation,  and  which  but  for  the  recouquest  by  the  Eng- 
lish might  perhaps  have  continued  Avithout  interruption  to  this  day.' 

The  schools  of  that  day  in  the  several  towns  and  hamlets  of  the  New 
Netherlands  were  mainly  of  the  same  pattern.  The  school  day  began 
at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  continued  to  11,  and  in  the  afternoon 
began  at  1  o'clock  and  lasted  till  4.  The  school  was  maintained  for 
nine  months,  beginning  in  September  aud  lasting  till  June.  The  sub- 
jects taught  ill  the  schools  were  reading,  writing,  and  spelling.  Arith- 
metic was  taught  at  the  discretion  of  the  teacher;  that  is,  it  was  to  be 
taught  when  the  advancement  of  the  children  warranted  it. 

The  Dutch  had  established  a  settlement  on  the  Delaware  Eiver  at  a 
place  which  they  called  New  Amstel,  where  the  city  of  Newcastle  now 
stands.  The  Delaware  River  was  then  by  the  Hollanders  called  the 
South  River,  in  distinction  from  the  Hudson,  which  they  called  the 
North  River.  We  have  a  letter  from  Evert  Pietersen  to  the  director 
and  council  of  the  New  Netherlands : 

In  Fort  Amstel,  on  the  South  River,  N.  N.  [New  Netherlands],  August  10,  1655. 
'  *  *  We  arrived  here  on  the  25th  of  April.  I  find  twenty  families,  mostly  Swedes, 
not  more  than  five  or  six  families  belonging  to  our  nation.  I  already  begin  to  keep 
school,  aud  twenty-five  children,  etc. 

But  this  settlement  of  the  Dutch  did  not  thrive,  and  we  hear  little 
more  of  it,  especially  as  the  Dutch  provinces  in  America  in  1664  were 
transferred  to  the  English. 

Wickersham,  in  his  History  of  Education  in  Pennsylvania,  quotes  Wil- 
liam Penn  as  saying  that  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  the  country,  there 
were  churches  at  Christina,  Tinicum,  Wecaco,  and  Newcastle.  The 
church  at  Christina  was  built  within  the  walls  of  the  fort  soon  after 
the  settlement  of  the  place  by  Minuet.  Rev.  Reorus  Torkillus  was  the 
first  minister  and  probably  entered  on  his  ministerial  work  in  1610. 
Governor  Printz  built  a  handsome  frame  church  on  the  Tinicum  Island, 
which  was  dedicated  to  divine  service  in  September  1646.  Rev.  John 
Comparius,  who  had  come  to  America  with  Printz  as  '^  government 
chaplain,"  to  watch  over  the  Swedish  congregation,  was  the  first  pastor 
and  discharged  the  duties  of  the  post  for  six  years. 

Mr.  Wickersham  exphiins  further,  what  pertains  as  well  to  the  east 
as  to  the  west  side  of  the  Delaware: 

What  has  been  said  of  churclies  and  clergymen  has  a  very  close  relation  to  educa- 
tion in  a  secular  sense.  The  churches  no  doubt  served  the  place  of  schoolhouses  in 
the  early  days,  aud  the  clergymeu,  so  far  as  they  were  able,  filled  the  double  office 
of  ]>reacher  and  teacher.  Two  hundred  years  ago  churches  aud  schools  were  gen- 
erally under  one  control  in  Sweden,  Holland,  and  other  European  countries,  and  the 

'Pratt's  Annals  of  Education,  p.  61. 


THE    FIRST    SETTLERS    AND    EDUCATION.  11 

schoolmaster  was  nearlj'  always  the  iniuister's  assistant,  reading  for  him,  leading 
the  singiug,  visiting  the  sick,  and  in  his  absence  taking  the  vacant  ])lace  at  the 
sacred  desk.  These  customs  were  brought  to  America,  and  it  may  safely  be  said 
that  as  far  as  the  early  settlers  on  the  Delaware  had  churches  they  had  schools,  and 
so  far  as  they  had  ministers  they  had  schoolmasters.  The  regular  clergymen  taught 
the  children  of  their  congregations  to  read,  or  saw  that  it  was  done,  if  for  no  other 
reason  than  to  enable  them  to  receive  the  rec^uired  instruction  in  the  catechism.  ' 
And  so  Pietersen,  Evertsen,  Hadde,  Bengsten,  and  Springer,  alreadj-  mentioned  as 
clerks,  readers,  and  comforters  of  the  sick,  and  no  doubt  others  occupying  a  similar 
position,  were  in  all  probability  schoolmasters.  Pietersen  we  know  was  a  school- 
master, and  the  others  named  performed  i)recisely  the  same  official  duties  with 
respect  to  the  church. 

II.    THE    NEW   ENGLANDERS. 

The  first  organized  immigration  of  ]N"ew  Euglanders  iuto  New  Jersey 
took  place  in  1665,  wben  a  colony  made  up  in  Long  Island  settled  what 
became  the  city  of  Elizabeth  and  the  conntry  surrounding.  Nearly  all 
the  members  of  this  colony  were  originally  from  New  England,  having 
settled  temporarily  in  Long  Island.  Most  of  them  were  intimate 
friends  and  co-religionists,  and  carried  with  them  into  New  Jersey  the 
customs  and  institutions  of  their  earlier  home.  A  considerable  j)ortion 
of  the  colony  also  came  with  Governor  Carteret  from  the  island  of 
Jersey,  and  were  mostly  of  French  origin.  Their  names  differing  from 
their  pure  English  neighbors  revealed  the  difference  in  their  pedigree. 
This  colony  prospered  from  the  very  beginning.  It  was  called  Elizabeth- 
town  in  honor  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Carteret,  the  wife  of  Sir  George  Car- 
teret. Governor  Philip  Carteret  himself  became  one  of  the  regular 
burgesses,  and  established  his  capital  in  the  new  town.  Several 
adjoining  towns  grew  out  of  this  prosperous  venture,  such  as  Kah- 
way,  Piscataway,  Woodbridge,  etc.  There  was,  therefore,  here  a  sub- 
stantial element  of  New  England  stock,  which  gave  a  decided  trend 
to  the  history  of  the  State. 

We  have  some  memoranda  concerning  education  at  Woodbridge 
which  Mr.  Joseph  W.  Dally  has  gathered  up  for  us  in  his  history  of  the 
town  (1873).  The  charter  of  Woodbridge  (1669)  mentions  laud  to  be 
set  apart  for  education,  viz,  100  acres,  of  w*hich  88  acres  were  to  be 
upland,  and  12  acres  swamp  meadow.  The  town  came  near  losing  this 
valuable  grant  of  land  by  the  settlers  occupying  it,  but,  after  a  struggle, 
it  was  regained.    The  first  teacher  was  James  Fullerton.    In  1689  the 

'  The  following  is  a  record,  taken  from  the  court  at  Upland,  March  12, 167§,  show- 
ing the  existence  of  schools  and  teachers  at  that  early  date: 

"Edward  Draufton,  Pit,  Dunck  Williams  Deft.  The  Pit.  demands  of  this  Deft. 
200  gilders  for  teaching  this  deft's  children  to  read  one  yeare.  The  Co""'  haveing  the 
debates  of  both  parties  as  alsoe  j"  attestation  of  y"^  witnesses,  Doe  gi-ant  Judgment 
agst  ye  (jgft  ^Qp  200  gilders  w*''  y*"  costs." 

It  is  not  probable  that  Draufton  had  charge  of  a  school ;  more  likely  he  was  one 
of  a  class  of  schoolmasters  who  taught  the  children  of  private  persons  in  their  own 
homes.  He  was  to  teach  the  children  to  read  in  the  Bible ;  no  other  book  is  named. — 
Wickersham,  p.  17. 


12  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

town  voted  that  he  "  shall  be  entertained  in  this  town  as  schoolmaster, 
and  be  encouraged  by  such  as  see  cause  to  employ  him."  He  probably 
taught  the  school  till  1691.  John  Browne,  of  Amboy,  was  the  next 
teacher.  '-'  It  [the  town]  passed  (1091)  by  a  vote  that  John  Browne,  of 
Amboy,  should  have  twenty-four  pounds  a  yeare  allowed  him  for  keep- 
ing a  free  school  in  this  town  this  next  yeare."  Strawberry  Hill  school- 
house  was  probably  built  in  1701.  Before  that  time  the  school  was 
kei:)t  in  the  church.     In  1711  George  Ewbauks  began  teaching.' 

In  1660  another  very  important  and  influential  immigration  into  ^STew 
Jersey  took  place.  The  settlers  came  from  Milford  and  Bran  ford — 
towns  in  the  colonies  which  now  compose  the  State  of  Connecticut. 
They  had  become  restive  under  the  political  disabilities  with  which 
they  had  been  loaded  in  their  old  colonies.  They  sought  for  some 
home  where  liberty  of  conscience,  as  well  as  opportunities  for  success- 
ful wordly  industry,  might  be  open  to  them.  They  sent,  therefore,  mes- 
sengers, first  to  the  governor  of  the  New  Netherlands  and  afterwards 
to  the  governor  of  New  Jersey,  to  ascertain  on  what  terms  they  might 
obtain  a  suitable  j)lace  of  settlement.  The  time  was  only  a  little  sub- 
sequent to  the  grant  in  1664  by  Charles  II  of  England  to  his  brother 
the  Duke  of  York  of  the  lands  now  embraced  in  the  States  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey.  The  Duke  of  York  had  transferred  to  Lord 
John  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret  the  New  Jersey  i^ortiou  of  this 
grant. 

They,  on  acquiring  title  to  this  territory,  for  the  purpose  of  attracting 
immigrants  immediately  issued  a  document  entitled,  "The  Concessions 
and  Agreement  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  Nova  Caisarea  or  New  Jer- 
sey, to  and  with  all  and  every  of  the  Adventurers  and  all  such  as  shall 
settle  and  plant  there."  This  most  important  document  guaranteed 
liberty  of  conscience  to  all  settlers  and  the  right  to  choose  an  assembly 
for  the  enactment  of  suitable  laws.  Besides  this  assembly  chosen  by 
the  people,  the  administration  was  in  the  hands  of  a  governor  to  be 
appointed  by  the  lords  proprietors  and  a  council  chosen  by  him.  The 
governor  first  api)ointed  was  Philip  Carteret,  a  relative  of  the  i)roprie- 
tor,  Sir  George.  *  • 

Negotiations  were  at  once  opened  with  the  restive  families  at  Milford. 
These  ended  in  an  agreement  that  a  company  should  emigrate  from  Mil- 
ford to  a  point  on  the  Passaic  Eiver,  where  the  city  of  Newark  now 
stands.     This  point  was  occupied  in  May,  1666. 

Another  colony  came  almost  immediately  from  Branford  and  Guil- 
ford, and  settled  in  Newark  alongside  their  old  neighbors  from  Milford. 
A  document  representing  the  agreement  between  these  two  companies 
is  still  i)reserved  in  the  town  records  of  Newark.  Of  the  forty-one 
signers  of  this  agreement  on  behalf  of  the  Milford  settlers,  only  four 

'  Mr.  Dally  gives  some  iustances  of  queer  spelling  in  the  old  rt'cords  of  the  town, 
thus:  Vendue  spelled "vandew;''  disbursed,  "disbusted"  to  him;  laudsheld,  "lands 
hell  by  them." 


THE    FIRST    SETTLERS    AND    EDUCATION.  13 

were  unable  to  write  their  o\yu  names;  and  of  the  twenty-three  Brauford 
and  Guilford  signers,  only  one  makes  his  mark,  TLiis  trivial  circum- 
stance shows  the  general  prevalence  of  education  among  these  early 
New  P^ngland  settlers. 

This  agreement  contains  provisions  that  in  this  "town  upon  Passaick 
River,  in  the  province  of  New  Jersey,"  none  shall  be  admitted  freemeu 
or  free  burgesses  "  but  such  planters  as  are  members  of  some  or  otlier  of 
the  Congregational  churches,  Nor  shall  any  but  such  be  chosen  to  any 
magistracy,  or  to  carry  on  any  part  of  said  civil  judicature,  or  as  depu- 
ties or  assistants  to  have  power  to  vote  in  establishing  laws,  and  mak- 
ing or  repealing  them,  or  to  any  chief  military  trust  or  oftice.  Nor 
shall  any  but  such  church  members  have  any  vote  in  any  such  election; 
though  all  others,  admitted  to  be  lilanters,  have  right  to  their  proper 
inheritance,  and  do  and  shall  enjoy  all  other  civil  liberties  and  privi- 
leges, according  to  all  laws,  orders,  grants,  which  are  or  hereafter  shall 
be  made  for  this  town."  Such  provisions  must  be  interpreted  as  the 
mutual  and  voluntary  agreement  of  men  who  had  joined  together  in 
founding  a  town  for  themselves  and  for  those  who  might  voluntarily 
thereafter  join  themselves  to  them.  These  conditions  were  not,  how- 
ever, adapted  to  a  large  and  general  society  free  to  all  Avho  might 
desire  to  enter.  And  so  the  original  i^uritauical  features  of  Newark's 
first  constitution  were  gradually  dropped  and  she  became  effectually 
liberalized. 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  a  community  so  generally  educated  and 
so  familiar  with  the  advantages  of  education  did  not  neglect  to  provide 
educational  advantages  for  their  children.  Even  without  Schools  the 
children  of  every  family,  as  had  been  the  case  in  their  old  New  England 
homes,  would  be  taught  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  church 
which  they  had  brought  with  them  laid  upon  all  the  parents  the  duty 
of  teaching  their  children,  so  that  they  could  read  the  Holy  Scriptures 
and  commit  to  memory  the  catechism. 

In  1671  it  is  recorded  that  a  pauper  of  the  town  was  admitted  a  free- 
holder on  condition  that  he  learn  to  read  and  write,  so  that  he  shall  be 
able  to  set  his  name  to  the  fundamental  agreement  which  all  freemeu 
were  reipiired  to  sign.  And  in  1676,  only  ten  years  after  the  first  set- 
tlement, John  Catlin  was  appointed  a  schoolmaster  under  a  contract  to 
"do  his  faithful,  honest,  and  true  endeavor  to  teach  the  children  or 
servants  of  those  as  have  subscribed,  the  reading  and  writing  of 
English,  and  also  arithmetick,  if  they  desire  it;  as  much  as  they  are 
capable  to  learn  and  he  capable  to  teach  them,  within  the  compass  of 
this  year." 

III.    SCOTCH,  SCOTCH-IRISH,  AND  ENGLISH  SETTLEKS. 

A  third  important  element  in  the  early  population  of  New  Jersey 
were  the  immigrants  from  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  These  came 
in  large  numbers,  especially  from  Scotland.     Sir  George  Carteret,  one 


14  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATIuN    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

of  the  original  grantees  of  the  province,  was  himself  a  Scotclimau,  and 
used  bis  utmost  endeavors  to  induce  a  large  immigration  into  bis 
province. 

In  bis  discourse  on  Eev.  Dr.  Dickinson,  the  first  president  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Kew  Jersey,  Professor  Cameron  says: 

Before  the  end  of  the  seveuteenth  century  200,000  Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish  had 
immigrated  into  this  land.  Three-fourths  of  those  who  formed  our  presbyteries  in 
1705  et  seq.  were  from  beyond  the  sea;  about  one-fourth  from  New  England. 

And  again  he  very  appropriately  observes : 

The  Scotch  inherited  their  love  of  learning  from  the  days  of  the  Reformation  ;  for 
their  Book  of  Discipline  adopted  by  their  tirst  general  assembly  at  its  meeting  in 
1561  stated,  "  That  it  was  imperatively  necessary  tliat  there  should  be  a  school  in 
every  parish  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  principles  of  religion,  grammar,  and 
the  Latin  tongue."  "And  it  was  farther  proposed  that  a  college  should  be  erected 
in  every  notable  town,  in  which  logic  and  rhetoric  should  be  taught,  along  with  the 
learned  languages." 

Eicbard  S.  Field,  in  an  address  printed  in  the  Collections  of  the  l^ew 
Jersey  Historical  Society,  says : 

There  is  no  jiortion  of  our  ancestors  of  Avhom  we  may  feel  more  justly  proud  tlian 
of  those  who  came  hither  from  Scotland.  They  were  for  the  most  part  of  a  class 
superior  to  the  Dutch  and  English  emigrants.  Graliame,  himself  a  Scotchman,  and 
the  author  of  by  far  the  best  colonial  history  of  the  United  States,  observes  that, 
"a  great  many  inhabitants  of  Scotland  emigrated  to  East  .lersey  and  enriched 
American  society  with  a  valuable  accession  of  virtue  refined  by  adversity  and  ot 
piety  invigorated  by  patriotism."  Many  of  them  were  men  of  property,  of  family, 
and  of  education.  The  more  wealthy  were  usually  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
retinue  of  servants  and  deiiendents.' 

The  same  convictions  about  education  were  brought  by  the  immi- 
grants into  the  New  World.  They  were  not  the  ignorant  and  thriftless 
overflow  of  congested  cities  who  sought  new  homes  in  New  Jersey. 
They  were  the  young,  enterprising,  intelligent,  and  God-fearing  folk 
who  went  abroad  to  better  their  condition  and  secure  for  themselves  a 
purer  atmosphere  of  liberty.  They  took  with  them  their  religious 
institutions,  since  without  these  the  New  World  would  have  been  no 
home.  Hence  central  New  Jersey  and  parts  of  Pennsylvania  became 
imbued  with  a  large  Presbyterian  element. 

Education  was  scarcely  less  essential  to  these  hardy  immigrants  than 
religion.  They  followed  the  example  of  their  native  land  and  their 
native  church  in  providing  for  the  education  of  their  children.  Each 
iamilysaw  to  it  that  the  little  ones  were  taught  the  rudiments  of  learn- 
ing. Even  without  schools,  and  when  the  children  were  too  young  to 
be  sent  to  school,  they  were  taught  by  tbeir  mothers  and  older  sisters 
to  read  and  write.  So  that  in  such  a  community,  where  the  adults 
were  themselves  intelligent  and  educated,  it  was  impossible  that  the 
children  should  grow  up  ignorant.  In  all  the  church  organizations  it 
was  the  custom  and  the  authorized  method  of  administering  the  atfairs 
of  the  congregation  to  have  a  school  for  the  better  training  of  the 


'  Collections  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society,  Vol.  Ill,  ]>.  86. 


THE    FIRST    SETTLERS    AND    EDUCATION.  15 

youug.  Of  course  the  main  end  aimed  at  in  all  tliese  church  schools 
was  to  learn  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  to  be  able  to  commit  to 
memory  the  catechism  of  the  church.  The  clergymen  were  often,  in 
these  early  times,  themselves  the  teachers  in  the  schools  connected  with 
their  churches.  And  for  this  i^urpose  the  Presbyterian  clergymen  of 
the  central  regions  of  New  Jersey,  being  mostly  from  the  best  parts  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  were  especially  well  adapted. 

(3ccasionally  we  learn  of  some  sentiments  averse  to  the  prevailing- 
enlightenment  and  liberality  in  the  colonies.  But  these  sentiments 
were  generally  held,  not  by  the  actual  colonists,  but  by  some  of  the 
narrow  and  bigoted  rulers  who  were  sent  over  to  them.  Thus,  in  1071, 
we  have  it  on  record  that  Sir  William  Berkeley,  then  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, wrote  home: 

I  thank  God  there  are  uo  free  schools  '  autl  priuting;  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  liave 
these  in  a  hundred  years. - 

But  this  pious  sentiment  of  the  governor  did  not  prevent  the  char- 
tering in  1C92 — only  twenty  years  thereafter — of  William  and  Mary 
College  at  Williamsburg,  which  not  only  bears  the  names  of  the  royal 
occupants  of  the  throne,  but  which  they  endowed  with  laud  and  reve- 
nue. And  again,  somewhat  later,  when  Lord  Cornbury  was  sent  out 
as  the  governor  of  New  Jersey,  the  elaborate  instructions  with  which 
he  was  dispatched  by  Queen  Anne  contained  the  following  passage: 

Forasmuch  as  great  inconvenience  may  arise  by  the  liberty  of  printing  in  our  said 
province,  you  [the  governor]  are  to  provide  by  all  necessary  orders  that  no  i^erson 
keep  any  press  for  printing,  nor  that  any  book,  pamphlet,  or  other  matters  ■whatso- 
ever, be  printed  without  your  special  leave  and  license  lirst  obtained.' 

These  obstacles  to  progress  in  the  colony  were,  however,  of  indifferent 
effect  and  were  soon  swept  away  by  the  advancing  waves  of  civilization 
and  iutelligence.  The  quality  of  the  early  settlers  was  too  solid  and 
substantial  to  be  overthrown  by  such  incidental  circumstances. 

IV.    THE    FRIENDS    IN    WEST    JERSEY. 

The  remaining  important  element  in  the  early  colonization  of  New 
Jersey  was  the  Friends.  The  same  movements  which  brought 
Quakers  to  Pennsylvania  landed  them  in  considerable  numbers  on  the 


'  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  by  the  term  "free  schools,"  as  used  in  this  ])as8agfc, 
Sir  William  does  not  mean  what  we  would  mean  by  the  same  term;  l>ut  probably 
such  so-called  public  schools  as  Eton,  Harrow,  Rugby,  Winchester,  etc.,  in  England. 

-As  cited  by  Dr.  Cameron  iu  his  address  on  President  Dickinson. 

'One  of  Lord  Cornbury's  instructions  was  as  follows:  "And  whereas  we  are  will- 
ing to  recommend  unto  the  said  company  [the  Royal  African  Compauj']  that  tho 
said  province  may  have  a  constant  and  sufiScient  supply  of  merchantable  negroes  at 
a  moderate  rate,  in  money  or  commodities,  so  you  are  to  take  special  care  that 
payment  be  duly  made  and  within  a  competent  time,  acordiug  to  tlie  agreement. 
*  *  *  And  you  are  to  take  care  tliat  there  be  uo  trading  from  our  said  province 
to  any  place  in  Africa  within  the  charter  of  the  Royal  African  Company  otherwise 
than  prescribed  by  an  act  of  Parliament  entitled  'An  act  to  settle  the  trade  of 
Africa.'" 


16  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

opposite  side  of  the  Delaware  Eiver.  Persecution  drove  them  out  of 
JMassaehusetts  and  made  England  and  Scotland  an  uneasy  borne  for 
tbem.  They  came,  therefore,  to  provinces  in  the  New  World,  where 
their  personal  rights  would  be  respected  and  where  their  principles  of 
toleration  would  have  an  opportunity  to  expand  and  develop  them- 
selves. To  show  in  what  numbers  they  came  to  America,  it  may  be 
stated  that  in  1700  the  Friends  in  England  and  Wales  were  estimated 
at  06,000;  in  1760  the  Friends  in  America  numbered  about  50,000.' 

The  first  Quakers  who  settled  in  New  Jersey  appeared  in  Shrews- 
bury in  1670,  where  they  held  their  first  monthly  meeting,  aud  where  a 
meeting  house  was  built  in  1672.  A  further  advance  in  Quaker  colon- 
ization took  place  in  1673,  when  Lord  Berkeley  sold  to  John  Fenwick 
and  Edward  Byllinge,  two  English  Quakers,  the  i)rovince  of  West  New 
Jersey,  which  was  divided  from  East  New  Jersey  by  a  line  starting- 
from  Little  Egg  Harbor  and  running  to  a  specified  point  on  the  Delaware 
River.  West  New  Jersey  was  divided  between  Fenwick,  who  had  one- 
tenth,  and  Byllinge,  who  received  the  remaining  nine  tenths.  Finally 
Fenwick  leased  his  tenth  to  Eldridge  and  Warner,  and  Byllinge 
assigned  his  nine-tenths  to  William  Penn  and  his  associates. 

Fenwick  sailed  from  London  in  1675  with  a  small  company  of  Quak- 
ers. They  ascended  the  Delaware  River  aud  into  a  creek  now  called 
the  Salem  Creek.  Here  tbey  formed  a  settlement,  to  which  they  gave 
the  scriptural  name  of  Salem.  This  was  the  first  permanent  settlement 
by  Englishmen  in  West  New  Jersey.  Some  difficulties  arose  between 
Fenwick  and  the  proprietors,  and  for  a  time  much  bad  blood  was  mani- 
fested; but,  finally  Penn  who  was  a  man  of  peace  and  withal  a  man 
of  enterprise,  got  his  colony  into  a  satisfactory  condition. 

The  most  noteworthy  event  in  the  settlement  of  West  New  Jersey 
by  the  Quakers  was  the  publication  by  the  proprietors  of  the  conditions 
on  which  settlers  would  be  received  into  the  province.  It  is  termed 
''The  concessions  and  agreements  of  the  proprietors,  freeholders,  aud 
inhabitants  of  the  province  of  West  New  Jersey,  in  America.''  This 
instrument  was  in  advance  of  all  other  fundamental  documents  which 
had  been  evolved  in  the  government  of  the  New  World.  It  will  be 
found  at  large  in  Leaming  and  Spicer  and  deserves  the  studj"  of  every 
patriotic  citizen. 

It  was  published  in  1676  and  declared  that  no  man  had  power  over 
men's  consciences  in  religious  matters;  that  no  person  within  the  prov- 
ince shall  ever  be  called  into  question  as  to  his  religious  opinious;  that 
every  person  shall  be  entitled  to  atrial  by  jury ;  that  no  jierson,  except 
in  criminal  and  treasonable  cases,  shall  be  arrested  or  imprisoned  until 
a  personal  summons  shall  have  been  served  upon  liim  and  time  given 
him  to  answer;  that  uo  i)erson  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt  if  he  have 
not  the  means  of  paying;  that  all  proceedings  of  courts  shall  be  public; 
aud,  finally,  that  every  person  inhabiting  this  proviuce  shall  be  free 


'The  Amcricau  Chureh  History  Series;  Frieuds.     Vol.  XII. 


THE    FIRST    SETTLERS    AND    EDUCATION.  17 

from  oppression  and  slavery.  Then  it  was  solemnly  announced  that  the 
rights  and  privileges  in  this  document  granted  were  inalienable  and 
unalterable.  The  executive  authority  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  com- 
missioners, at  first  appointed  by  the  proprietors,  but  afterwards  to  be 
elected  by  the  inhabitants.  These  commissioners  were  to  govern  the 
province  in  accordance  with  the  concessions  and  agreements. 

The  legislative  authority  of  the  province  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
a  general  assembly,  composed  of  members  elected  yearly  by  the  people. 
Each  member  was  to  receive  a  shilling  a  day  for  his  services.  The 
fundamental  law  also  provided  that  all  lands  taken  for  settlement  must 
be  bought  from  the  Indians,  and  that  in  case  any  difficulty  arose 
between  white  settlers  and  Indians  the  trial  should  be  before  a  jury  of 
six  whites  and  six  Indians.  i!^o  power  in  this  document  was  reserved 
for  the  i)roprietors,  but  the  ultimate  authority  in  all  cases  was  com- 
mitted to  the  people. 

Under  this  liberal  plan  of  settlement  the  immigration  into  West  New 
Jersey  proceeded  apace.  In  1077  a  very  considerable  number — about 
400 — mostly  Quakers,  came  over  from  England  and  settled  on  lands 
along  the  east  bank  of  the  Delaware.  More  followed  in  succeeding 
years,  and  the  counties  along  the  river  raindly  filled  up.  Xo  portion  of 
the  country  prospered  at  this  time  more  than  the  ]jrovince  of  West 
New  Jersey.^  And  thie  people  were  of  the  most  industrious  and  intel- 
ligent description,  and  brought  with  them  their  attachment  to  their 
religion  and  the  earnest  wish  to  have  their  children  educated.  Hence, 
at  every  central  town  we  find  not  only  the  Quaker  meetinghouse,  but 
the  school  attached  to  it,  which  was  to  them  scarcely  less  important. 

Thomas  Budd  was  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  intelligent  of  the 
Quaker  leaders.  We  have  a  book  x>nblished  by  him  in  1085  with  the 
following  title:  "Good  Order  Established  |  in  |  Pennsylvania  «&  New 
Jersey  |  in  |  America  |  Being  a  true  Account  of  the  Country;  |  With  its 
Produce  and  Commodities  there  made  I  *  *  *  |  By  Thomas  Budd.  | 
Printed  in  the  Ycc^r  1685." 

The  following  extract  will  show  his  advanced  ideas  on  the  subject  of 
education : 

1.  Now,  it  might  be  well  if  a  law  were  made  by  the  governonrs  and  general  assem- 
blies of  Peimsilvauia  aud  New  Jersey,  that  all  persons  inhabiting  the  said  Provinces 
to  pnt  their  children  seven  years  to  the  publick  school,  or  longer,  if  the  parents 
please. 

2.  That  scliools  be  provided  in  all  towns  and  cities,  and  persons  of  known  honesty, 
skill,  and  nnderstandiug  be  yearly  chosen  by  the  governoiir  and  general  assembly, 
to  teach  and  instruct  boys  and  girls  in  all  the  most  useful  arts  and  sciences,  that 
they  in  their  useful  capacities  may  be  capable  to  read  and  to  write  true  English  and 
Latine  and  other  useful  speeches  and  languages,  and  fair  writing,  arithmetick,  aud 

'Of  the  tirst  Friends  who  came  to  Pennsylvania  Proud  says:  "'The  generality  of 
the  earlj'  Quaker  settlers  were  not  ranked  among  the  rich  and  great,  yet  many  had 
valuable  estates,  were  of  good  families  and  education,  and  mostly  sober,  industrious, 
and  substantial  people,  of  low  or  moderate  fortunes,  but  of  universal  good  reputa- 
tion and  character." — Wickersham,  Education  in  Pennsvlvania,  p.  25. 
20687— No.  23—  -2 


18  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

book-keeping;  and  the  boys  to  Ite  taught  and  instructed  in  some  mystery  or  trade,  as 
the  making  of  mathematical  instruments,  joynery,  turnery,  the  making  of  clocks 
and  watches,  weaving,  shoe  making,  or  any  other  useful  trade  or  mystery  that  the 
school  is  capable  of  teaching;  and  the  girls  to  be  taught  and  instructed  in  spinning 
of  flax  and  wool,  and  knitting  of  gloves  and  stockings,  sewing,  and  making  of  all 
sorts  of  needle-work,  and  the  making  of  straw-work,  as  hats,  baskets,  etc.,  or  any 
other  useful  art  or  mystery  that  the  school  is  capable  of  teaching. 

3.  That  the  scholars  be  kept  in  the  morning  two  hours  at  reading,  writing,  book- 
keeping, etc.,  and  other  two  hours  at  the  work  in  that  art,  mystery,  or  trade  that  lie 
or  she  most  delighteth  in,  and  let  them  have  two  hours  to  dine  and  for  recreation, 
aud  in  the  afternoon  two  hours  at  work  at  their  several  employments. 

4.  The  seventh  day  of  the  week  the  scholars  may  come  to  the  school  only  in  the 
forenoon,  and  at  a  certain  hour  in  the  afternoon  let  a  meeting  be  kept  by  the  school- 
masters and  their  scholars,  where,  after  good  instruction  aud  admonition  is  given  by 
the  masters  to  their  scholars^  and  thanks  returned  to  the  Lord  for  his  mercies  and 
blessings  that  are  daily  received  from  him,  then  let  a  strict  examination  by  the 
masters  of  the  conversation  of  the  scholars  in  the  jiast  week,  aud  let  reproof,  admo- 
nition, and  correction  be  given  to  the  otfenders  according  to  the  quantity  and  (quality 
of  tlieir  faults. 

5.  Let  the  like  meetings  be  kept  by  the  school-mistresses  rfud  the  girls  apart  from 
the  boys.  By  strictly  observing  this  good  order,  our  children  will  be  hindered  of 
running  into  that  excess  of  riot  and  wickedness  that  youth  is  incident  to,  and  they 
will  be  a  comfort  to  their  tender  parents. 

6.  Let  one  thousand  acres  of  laud  be  given  and  laid  out  in  a  good  place  to  every 
publick  school  that  shall  be  set  up,  and  the  rent  or  income  of  it  to  go  towards  defray- 
ing the  charge  of  the  school. 

7.  And  to  the  end  that  the  children  of  the  poor  peojile  and  the  children  of  the 
Indians  may  have  the  like  good  learning  with  the  children  of  the  rich  people,  let 
them  be  maintained  free  of  charge  to  their  parents,  out  of  the  profits  of  the  school, 
arising  by  the  work  of  the  scholars,  by  which  the  poor  and  the  Indians,  as  Avell  as 
the  rich,  will  have  their  children  taught;  and  the  remainder  of  the  jirotits,  if  any 
be,  to  be  disposed  of  in  building  of  school-bouses  and  improvements  to  the  thousand 
acres  of  land  which  belongs  to  the  school. 

Not  all  of  liis  book,  of  course,  is  taken  up  with  matters  coucerning 
education.  Here  is  a  paragraph  which  deals  Avith  other  interesting 
subjects : 

Also  in  and  near  these  marshes  are  small  Hies,  called  musketoos.  which  are  trouble- 
some to  such  people  as  are  not  used  to  them. 

Two  hundred  years  have  not  rendered  them  less  troublesome.  The 
author  also  notes  that — 

Fruits  that  grow  natural  in  the  countries  are  strawberries,  cranberries,  huccleber- 
ries,  blackberries,  medlers,  grapes,  plums,  hickory  nuts,  walnuts,  mulberries,  chest- 
nuts, harselnuts,  etc. 

The  Colonial  Kecords  of  Pennsylvania  for  1683  contain  the  following, 
which  shows  something  of  the  notions  then  current  about  education 
among  the  Quakers,'  and  will  apply  to  AVest  Jersey  as  well  as  Penn- 
sylvania : 

The  governor  and  provcl.  council  having  taken  into  their  serious  consideration 
the  necessity  there  is  of  a  school-master  for  ye  instruction  and  sober  education  of 
youth  in  the  towue  of  Pliiladelphia,  sent  for  Enock  Flower,  an  inhabitant  of  said 

'  The  following  quotation  from  William  Penn  on  the  subject  of  education  shows 
the  spirit  and  oitinions  of  the  Quaker  settlers  of  America:  "We  are  in  pain  to  make 
them  [the  children]  good  scholars,  but  not  men;  to  talk  rather  than  to  kilow,  which 


THE    FIRST    8ETTLERS    AND    EDUCATION.  19 

towne,  who  for  twenty  year  past  hath  been  experienced  in  that  care  and  imploymt 
in  England,  to  whom  having  communicated  their  minds,  he  embraced  it  on  the  fol- 
lowing ternies:  i^o  learne  to  read  English,  4s.  by  ye  quarter;  to  learn  to  read  and 
write,  6s.  by  ye  quarter;  to  learn  to  read,  write,  and  cast  accot,  8s.  by  ye  quarter; 
for  boarding  a  scholler,  that  is  to  say,  dyet,  washing,  lodging,  and  schooling,  tenn 
pounds  for  one  whole  year."  ' 

At  the  sessiou  of  tlie  assembly  of  West  Xew  Jersey,  held  in  Septem- 
ber, 1682,  it  was  enacted  that — 

for  the  encouraging  learning  for  the  better  education  of  youth,  the  island  called 
Matinicunk  Island-  is  hereby  given,  and  shall  from  henceforth  forever  hereafter  be 
and  remain  to  and  for  the  use  of  the  town  of  Burlington,  *  "  *  f^^  the  main- 
taining of  a  school  for  the  education  of  youth  within  the  said  town  and  in  the  first 
and  second  tenths.^ 

This  was  the  earliest  grant  of  land  in  New  Jersey  for  public  educa- 
tion, and  the  revenues  derived  from  it  have  been  continuously  devoted 
to  the  designated  purpose  to  the  present  time.^ 

During  the  proprietary  government  schools  were  made  the  subject  of 
legislatioji  in  East  Kew  Jersey  in  1693  and  1695.  The  first  of  these  laws, 
as  given  in  Leamiug  and  Spicer  (p.  328),  is  entitled  "An  act  for  estab- 
lishing schoolmasters  within  this  province.''     It  provides  that — 

the  inhabitants  of  any  town  within  this  })rovince  shall  and  may,  by  warrant  from  a 
justice  of  the  peace  of  that  county,  when  they  think  lit  and  convenient,  meet  together 
and  make  choice  of  three  [or]  more  men  of  the  said  town,  to  make  a  rate  for  the 
salary  and  maintaining  of  a  schoolmaster  within  said  town  for  so  long  as  they  think  fit ; 
and  the  consent  and  agreement  of  the  major  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  said  town 
shall  bind  and  oblige  the  remaining  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  said  town  to  satisfy 
and  pay  their  shares  and  proportion  of  said  rate,  and  in  case  of  refusal  or  nonpay- 
ment, distress  to  be  made  upon  the  goods  and  chattels  of  such  person  or  persons  so 
refusing  or  not  paying  by  the  constable  of  the  said  town,  by  virtue  of  a  Avarraut 
from  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  that  county,  and  the  distress  so  taken  to  be  sold  at 
a  public  vendue,  and  the  overi^lus,  if  any  after  jiaymeut  of  said  rate  and  charges,  to 
be  returned  to  the  owner. 

is  true  canting.  The  first  thing  obvious  to  children  is  what  is  sensible;  and  that  we 
make  no  part  of  their  rudiments.  "We  press  their  memory  too  soon,  and  puzzle, 
strain,  and  load  them  with  words  and  rules  to  know  grammar  and  rhetoric  and  a 
strange  tongue  or  two  that  it  is  ten  to  one  may  never  be  useful  to  them,  leaving  their 
natural  genius  to  mechanical  and  physical  and  natural  knowledge  uncultivated  and 
neglected.'' — From  Commencement  of  Eefiectious  and  Maxims;  cited  in  The  Friend, 
IV,  191. 

'  Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records,  Vol.  I,  j).  91. 

-  This  island,  known  interchangeably  as  Matinicunk  or  Chygoes  Island,  is  in  the 
Delaware  River,  and  contains  about  300  acres.     (Charles  D.  Deshler's  MS.,  p.  57.) 

•^  Leaming  cV:  Sjiicer,  p.  455. 

^The  monthly  meeting  of  Friends  at  London  sent  out  in  J715  in  their  instructions 
the  following  recommendation  :  "The  want  of  proper  persons  among  Friends  quali- 
fied for  schoolmasters  has  been  the  occasion  of  great  damage  to  the  society  in  many 
places.  "We  desire  that  Friends  would  in  their  Monthly  Meetings  assist  young  men 
of  low  circumstances,  whose  genius  and  conduct  may  be  suitable  for  that  office,  with 
means  recpiisite  to  obtain  the  proper  qualifications ;  and  when  so  cxualified  afi'ord  them 
the  necessary  encouragement  for  their  sui>port."  (Cited  in  Wickersham's  History  of 
Education  in  Pennsylvania,  p.  29.) 


20  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

In  the  laws  of  1095  is  auother  act  (01iaj)ter  V)  amending  that  above 
given.  The  preamble  recites  the  inconvenience  caused  by  the  distance 
of  parts  of  the  neighborhood,  and  then  the  act  directs — 

that  three  men  he  chosen  yearly,  and  every  year,  in  each  resjiective  town '  in  this 
province,  to  appoint  and  agree  with  a  schoolmaster,  and  the  three  men  so  chosen 
shall  have  power  to  nominate  and  appoint  the  most  convenient  place  or  places  where 
the  school  shall  he  kept  from  time  to  time,  that,  as  near  as  may  be,  the  whole  inhab- 
itants may  have  the  benefit  thereof. 

'  It  is  singnlar  to  observe  that  these  first  school  laws  were  based  on  the  township 
method  of  administration.  The  three  committeemen  were  chosen  for  each  town, 
and  they  were  authorized  to  arrange  for  such  schools  as  were  required.  After  two 
hundred  years  of  trials  and  experiments  the  State  has  come  back  to  the  township 
method  of  administering  its  schools. 


Chapter  II. 

FROM  THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  EAST  AND  WEST 
NEW  JERSEY  INTO  A  ROYAL  COLONY  TO  THE  OR- 
GANIZATION OF  A  STATE. 


Keither  East  New  Jersey  nor  West  Xew  Jersey  was  sufflcieutly 
extensive  to  remain  long  an  independent  and  separate  province.  The 
proprietary  body  was  not  well  fitted  to  undertake  the  political  gov- 
ernment of  a  territory.  The  proprietors  chiefly  resided  in  England 
and  exercised  their  political  authority  through  governors  or  lieutenant- 
governors  who  were  sent  over.  It  was  impossible  that  such  rulers 
could  provide  for  their  provinces  the  necessary  protection  against  hos- 
tile Indians  or  against  the  jealousy  and  avarice  of  neighboring  colo- 
nies. The  proprietors,  therefore,  in  1702  voluntarily  surrendered  to  the 
Crown  the  political  powers  which  had  been  granted  to  them  when 
the  provinces  were  transferred  to  them  by  the  Duke  of  York.  They 
retained  only  the  ownership  of  the  land  and  trusted  to  the  Crown  for 
the  continued  possession  of  those  civil  and  religious  rights  which  they 
had  guarded  so  jealously. 

Lord  Cornbury,  a  cousin  of  Queen  Anne,  was  appointed  in  1702  as 
the  governor  of  New  Y'ork  and  of  the  consolidated  colony  of  New  Jer- 
sey. Neither  he  nor  the  responsible  ministry  of  Queen  Anne  at  this 
time  appreciated  at  their  true  value  the  circumstances  of  this  colony, 
nor  the  principles  of  liberty  and  pojjular  independence  which  had  been, 
up  to  this  time,  their  most  striking  characteristic.  Cornbury  was  an 
illiberal  representative  of  the  British  aristocracy,  who  had  not  only  no 
admiration  for  the  brave  and  resolute  spirit  of  his  own  country,  but 
who  came  to  America  with  a  determination  to  impose  on  the  colonists 
the  worst  features  of  his  home  government. 

The  government  of  New  Jersey,  according  to  the  plan  initiated  at  the 
time  of  Oornbury's  appointment,  was  vested  in  a  governor,  council,  and 
a  general  assembly.  The  first  two  were  appointed  by  the  Crown ;  the 
members  of  the  general  assembly  were  elected  by  the  people.  The 
assembly  was  to  meet  alternately  at  Perth  Amboy,  in  East  New  Jersey, 
and  Burlington,  in  West  New  Jersey.  The  rights  of  the  proprietors 
and  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  policy  toward  the  Indians,  as  they  had 
been  administered  under  the  former  divided  system,  were  to  be  main- 
tained. The  assembly  was  authorized  to  enact  all  necessary  laws,  pro- 
vided, they  did  not  conflict  with  the  laws  of  England.     Within  three 

21 


22  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEAV    JERSEY. 

mouths  of  the  passage  of  any  act  it  must  be  sent  to  England,  and  if 
disapproved  it  was  of  uo  effect. 

Owing,  however,  to  the  base  aud  arbitrary  character  or  the  governor, 
many  collisions  took  place  between  him  aud  the  general  assembly.  The 
government  at  home  grew  tired  of  the  complaints  against  him,  and  iu 
1708  he  was  recalled  by  the  Queen,  who  declared  that  she  "would  not 
countenance  her  nearest  relations  iu  oi)pressing  her  people." 

There  is  little  of  general  iuterest  concerning  education  during  the 
incumbency  of  the  immediate  successors  of  Lord  Cornbury.  We  have 
Mr.  Whitehead's'  authority  for  saying  that  during  the  seveuty-five 
years  of  royal  government,  previous  to  the  war  of  independence,  there 
was  almost  no  legislation  in  respect  to  education.  This  must  not,  how- 
ever, be  taken  to  mean  that  education  in  the  colony  had  no  history. 
In  many  of  the  thriving  localities  schools  were  maintained,  and  the 
instruction  of  the  rising  generation  went  on. 

Thus,  iu  17G5,  in  the  minutes  of  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Perth  Amboy, 
Kev.  Mr.  McKean,  the  rector,  informed  the  vestry  that  a  schoolhouse 
was  an  immediate  necessity,  as  the  barracks  iu  which  the  school  was 
then  kept  could  not  be  had  longer  without  hiring.  In  consequence  a 
schoolhouse  was  built  by  subscription,  in  which,  probably,  Mr.  McKean 
was  himself  the  schoolmaster.  In  17G8  a  schoolhouse  was  hired  for  £7 
l>ev  annum,  in  which  Mr.  MciSTaughton  taught  till  1770. 

Mr.  Whitehead  quotes-  in  a  note  from  a  letter  by  Mr.  William 
Dunlap: 

I  was  sent  to  learn  my  letters,  wbile  yet  iu  petticoats,  to  Mrs.  Randall,  who  had  a 
swarm  of  such  manikins  about  her,  iu  a  house  iu  a  street  leading  to  the  barracks 
[Smith  street].  From  this  nursery  school  I  was  transferred  to  Master  McNaughton, 
a  black-looking  Irishman,  who  had  his  school  iu  a  wooden  building  near  the  gully 
which  divides  the  church  greeu  from  the  buildings  north  of  it.  When  the  hour  for 
"school  going  iu"  arrived  ho  used  to  appear  at  the  door  and  beckon  us  to  leave  our 
sport  on  the  church  green  and  come  to  the  dominion  of  his  straj)  and  ferule. 

In  1773  there  were  new  movements  in  Perth  Amboy  for  a  school.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  solicit  subscriptions.  The  sum  of  £1  sub- 
scribed would  entitle  the  subscriber  to  have  one  scholar  in  the  school. 
The  rich  and  liberal  were  invited  to  subscribe  larger  sums  in  order  to 
help  their  poorer  neighbors.  The  sum  paid  the  schoolmaster  was  £100 
per  annum.  One  of  the  chief  difficulties  in  all  such  cases  lay  in  obtain- 
ing suitable  teacliers.  They  were  mainly  Irish  or  Scotch  adventurers 
who  came  over  to  lind  some  new  career,  and  they  usually  were,  to  a 
degree,  drinking  men,  who  had  outlived  their  usefulness  and  the 
I)atience  of  their  friends  at  home. 

We  extract  a  part  of  the  description  by  the  late  Governor  Peter  D. 
Vroom,  as  given  in  the  Centennial  History  of  Somerset  County,  N.  J., 
by  Abraham  Messier,  D.  D.  (1878).     It  refers  to  an  old   schoolhouse, 

'  Contributions  to  East  Jersey  History.     By  W.  A,  Whitt^head,  ]>.  290. 
-Ibid.,  p.  292. 


THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  23 

built  ill  1795,  situated  near  Somerville,  which  antedated  all  the  village 
schools  that  sprang  up  after  the  Kevolution: 

Jolm  Warburton,  better  known  as  Master  Warbnrton,  presided  in  the  seliool.  He 
was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and  was  sujiposed  to  have  been  attached  to  the  British 
army  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  to  have  remained  here  after  the  close  of  the 
war.  *  ^  *  Master  "Warbnrtou  was  not  a  mere  pretender.  What  he  taught  was 
thoroughly  taught,  and  he  made  no  pretensions  of  teaching  what  he  did  not  know. 
The  English  Primer,  Dihvorth's  Spelling  Book  aud  Arithmetic,  the  New  Testament, 
and  then  the  Bible,  were  all  the  books  known  in  the  school.  *  ^  *  j^Jp  Warbur- 
tou's  great  points  were  order  aud  method.  He  allowed  no  slovenliness  in  his  school. 
Exact  himself  in  all  that  he  did,  he  rec^uired  exactness  in  his  scholars.  The  writing- 
books  and  ciphering  books  of  the  children  were  all  patterns  of  neatness;  every  line 
was  fixed  by  scale  and  dividers,  and  every  figure  had  its  proper  place.  In  this  (|uiet 
way  he  made  the  children  proud  of  themselves  and  of  their  work.  *  *  '  It  was 
the  custom  in  early  days  for  country  teachers  to  board  alternately,  week  by  week, 
among  their  employers,  thus  lessening  the  expense  of  education  by  giving  free  board. 
The  practice  of  Mr.  Warburton  in  regard  to  this  was  peculiar.  He  lived  altogether 
in  tlie  schoolhouse.  It  was  his  abode  by  night  aud  by  day,  but  he  was  supplied  with 
food  by  the  employers,  aud  after  this  fashion:  Each  employer  furnished  him  provi- 
sious  for  a  week.  On  every  Sunday  morning  he  would  repair  before  breakfast,  in 
his  best  attire,  which  was  very  plain  aud  neat,  to  the  house  of  the  person  who  was 
to  supply  him  for  the  week,  carrying  with  him  a  small-sized  wicker  basket  and  a 
handsome  glass  bottle  that  would  hold  about  a  (juart.  He  would  breakfast  with  the 
family,  aud  as  his  coming  was  known,  parents  aud  children  were  careful  to  receive 
him  very  kindly.  It  was  quite  an  event.  After  breakfast  his  basket  would  be  tilled 
with  the  best  the  house  could  afford,  suitable  for  his  comfort,  nnd  his  bottle  tilled 
with  rich  milk.  After  a  little  conversation  he  would  take  his  leave  and  retire  to  his 
quiet  home.  The  next  morning  a  fresh  bottle  of  milk  would  be  carried  to  him  by 
the  children;  and  so  he  would  be  supplied  daily  with  all  he  desired,  and  much  more, 
both  meat  and  drink.     His  favorite  diet  was  milk  aud  brown  bread. 

In  the  Eules  of  Discipline  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  for 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  the  Eastern  Parts  of  Mary- 
land are  to  be  found  directions  concerning  education  which  were  issued 
in  174G  to  1787.  We  give  some  extracts,  which  serve  to  show  the  care 
which  was  exercised  by  the  Friends  concerning  the  education  of  their 
children : 

Scliools. — The  education  of  onr  youth  in  piety  and  virtue,  and  giving  them  use- 
ful learning  under  the  tuition  of  religious,  i)rudent  persons,  having  for  a  great 
number  of  years  enjoyed  the  solid  attention  of  this  meeting,  advices  thereon  have 
from  time  to  time  been  issued  to  the  several  subordinate  meetings.  It  is  renewedly 
desired  that  quarterly,  monthly,  and  preparative  meetings  may  be  excited  to  proper 
exertions  for  the  institution  and  support  of  schools,  there  being  but  little  doubt 
that  as  Friends  are  united  and  cherish  a  disposition  of  liberality  for  the  assistance 
of  each  other  in  this  important  work,  they  will  be  enal)led  to  make  such  provision 
for  the  accommodation  and  residence  of  a  teacher  with  a  family  as  would  be  an 
encouragement  to  well-qualilied  persons  to  engage  in  this  arduous  employment.   "*  *  * 

It  is  therefore  proposed:  (1)  That  a  lot  of  ground  be  provided  iu  each  monthly 
or  preparative  meeting,  suflficient  for  a  garden,  orchard,  grass  for  a  cow,  etc.,  and  a 
suitable  house  erected  thereon.  (2)  That  funds  be  raised  by  contribution,  bequests, 
etc.,  in  each  meeting;  the  interest  of  which  to  be  applied  either  in  aid  of  the  tutor's 
salary  or  lessening  the  expenses  of  Friends  in  straitened  circumstances,  in  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children.  (3)  That  a  committee  be  appointed  in  each  monthly  or 
preparative  meeting  to  have  the  care  of  schools  and  the  funds  for  their  support,  and 
that  no  tutor  be  employed  but  with  their  consent. 


24  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

We  have  already  noted  that  iu  the  origiual  charter  of  Woodbridge 
Township  a  section  of  land  100  acres  in  extent  was  set  apart  and  des- 
io^nated  as  school  land,  and  the  revenue  therefrom  forever  appropriated 
for  the  support  of  a  free  school  in  the  town.  In  17G0,  one  hundred 
years  after  the  origiual  charter,  King  George  III  executed  a  new  charter 
incorporating  a  board  of  trustees  for  the  management  of  said  land,' 
and  securing  the  same  for  its  original  purpose. 

ESTABLISHMENT   OF   PRINCETON   COLLEGE. 

The  princii)al  event  in  the  history  of  education  before  the  revolution 
was  the  founding  of  the  College  of  Kew  Jersey.  The  influences  which 
led  to  it  grew  out  of  tbe  primitive  institution  called  the  "  Log  College." 
This  was  situated  at  Neshaminj^  in  Pennsylvania,  about  20  miles  from 
Philadelphia.  William  Teunant,  sr.,  was  the  founder.  He  had  emi- 
grated from  Ireland  to  America  after  he  had  taken  orders  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  became  a  Presbyterian  and  was  admitted  to  the 
synod  of  Philadelphia.  He  became  a  pastor  at  ]Sreshaminy  in  1726. 
For  the  education  of  his  own  sons  and  others  he  built  a  little  building 
for  a  school  or  academy.  Here  the  great  evangelist  Whitefield  visited 
him  in  1739.  His  two  celebrated  and  talented  sons,  Gilbert  Tennant 
and  William  Tennant,  jr.,  were  educated  at  this  so-called  Log  College. 
The  opposition  which  was  made  to  the  admission  of  these  young  men 
to  the  privileges  of  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  without  a  regular  educa- 
tion at  some  incorporated  institution  of  learning,  was  one  of  the  leading 
causes  which  led  to  the  incorporation  of  the  college  now  situated  at 
Princeton.^  In  common  with  all  the  early  colleges,  the  object  of  this 
one  was  to  raise  uj)  an  educated  ministry.  As  early  as  1739,  there  was 
a  proposal  to  establish  a  school  under  the  care  of  the  synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  a  commission  was  sent  to  England  to  promote  the  measure. 
With  this  same  design,  in  1774  a  school  for  gratuitous  instruction  in 
languages,  philosophy,  and  divinity  was  begun  in  the  State  of  Delaware.^ 

The  first  beginning  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was  the  classical 
school  which  Dr.  Jonathan  Dickinson  had  maintained  at  Elizabeth- 
town  for  some  years  in  connection  with  his  pastorate.  For  the  pur- 
l)Ose  of  turning  this  school  into  a  college,  application  ■*  was  made  in 
1745  to  Governor  Morris  by  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Pierson,  Pemberton, 
Burr,  and  others  of  the  presbytery  of  New  York.  The  ajiplication  was, 
however,  refused.  Governor  Morris  having  died  in  1746,  the  applica- 
tion was  renewed  to  John  Hamilton,  acting  governor,  who  granted  it 
October  22,  1746.  Dr.  Dickinson  M'as  appointed  president  and  the 
college  was  opened  in  May,  1747,  with   eight  students.    President 


'The  school  lauds  were  located  near  l^nioiitovrn,  and  are  now  leased  by  the  school 
trustees  as  a  poor  farm. 

••^See  "The  Log  College,"  by  Rev.  A.  Alexander,  D.  D. 
^See  Dr.  Cameron's  Discourse  on  Dr.  Dickinson. 
4  W.  R.  Weeks,  in  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Marcli,  1895. 


THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  25 

Dickinson,  however,  died  in  the  following  October  and  the  college  was 
temporarily  suspended. 

The  students  were  removed  to  Newark  and  put  under  the  care  of 
Eev.  Aaron  Burr,  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  who  also  liad 
established  a  classical  school  in  connection  with  his  church. 

Governor  Belcher  began  his  administration  in  1747,  and  at  once  took 
a  great  interest  in  the  project  of  the  new  college.  In  September,  1747, 
he  writes  to  Bev.  Mr.  Bradbury  saying,  among  other  things,  that  he 
was  pushing  forward  the  building  of  a  college,  as  he  found  the  people 
"  unlearned  and  impolite."'  And  the  next  day  he  writes  to  the  com- 
missioners of  the  West  Jersey  Society:  "The  people  of  the  province 
are  in  a  poor  situation  for  educating  their  children."  The  project  of 
starting  a  college  had  been  initiated  before  his  arrival,  but  where  it 
should  be  placed  was  a  matter  of  dispute  between  gentlemen  of  east 
and  west  Jersey.     He  had  got  them  to  agree  upon  Princeton. 

Again,  in  October,  1747,  Grovernor  Belcher  writes  to  Dr.  Jonathan 
Dickinson  (he  died  shortly  afterwards)  that  the  assembly  was  to  meet 
at  Burlington  on  the  17th.  He  suggests  that  Mr.  Pemberton  (one  of 
the  charter  trustees)  come  witli  him  to  the  meeting,  and  that  they  have 
something  to  say  for  the  benefit  of  the  embryo  college,  "as  a  lottery  or 
something  else."  And,  finally,  we  find  the  governor  writing  to  his 
friend,  Mr.  Dinwiddie,  of  Glasgow,  December  24,  1750,  asking,  as  a 
particular  favor  toward  the  infant  college,  that  its  president,  Eev.  Aaron 
Burr,  of  Newark,  have  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity  conferred  upon 
him  by  some  university  of  the  Old  World. 

The  enthusiatic  governor  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  charter 
obtained  for  the  college  in  174G,  so  he  himself  j)repared  another  on  a 
more  liberal  basis,  which  was  formally  issued  in  September,  1748.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  trustees  held  shortly  afterwards,  Rev.  Aaron  Burr 
was  chosen  president.  The  college  continued  to  be  conducted  in  New- 
arli  until  175G.  Then,  as  the  result  of  the  liberality  of  the  people  of 
Princeton,  the  college  was  removed  and  permanently  established  in  its 
present  situation. 

The  college  suttered  an  irreparable  misfortune  in  the  death  of  Presi- 
dent Burr-  in  1757.  He  had  been  a  most  faithful  pastor  and  president. 
The  historian  of  Princeton  '  College  can  not  fail  to  render  to  this  good 
and  accomplished  man  much  of  the  credit  for  the  successful  launching 
upon  the  world  of  this  great  and  useful  institution  of  learning. 

A  little  later  than  the  founding  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  a  char- 
ter was  granted,  in  1706,  by  Governor  Franklin  to  certain  incorporated 
trustees  of  Queen's  College.    This  charter  was  never  put  on  file,  and 

'  Index  to  N.  J.  Col.  Documents,  Belcher  Papers,  p.  208.  The  other  letters  here 
referred  to  are  also  to  be  found  in  the  Belcher  Papers. 

-President  Burr  was  the  father  of  the  still  more  famous  Aarou  Burr,  who  was 
born  at  Newark  iu  1756. 

*A  history  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  prepared  by  Prof.  John  De  Witt,  D.  D., 
will  be  found  on  a  subsequent  page. 


26  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

no  copy  of  it  is  known  to  exist.  But  that  it  was  granted  is  evident 
from  the  publication  of  an  advertisement  in  two  successive  numbers  of 
the  New  York  Mercury  for  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  under  this  char- 
ter, i^o  measures  seem  to  have  been  taken  by  this  board  toward  the 
founding  of  a  college.  An  amended  charter  was  granted  in  1770  by 
Governor  Franklin,  that  under  which  it  (Rutgers)  still  continues.  This 
college '  was  founded  by  the  Dutch  inhabitants  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  and  was  located  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

The  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  during  the  war  of  independ- 
ence interfered  with  the  exercises  of  the  college,  and  it  was  not  till 
after  the  close  of  the  war  that  arrangements  were  made  for  the  regular 
prosecution  of  the  studies  in  the  college.  At  last  it  was  organized  for 
instruction,  in  connection  with  a  theological  seminary  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church.  Rev.  John  H.  Livingston,  D.  D.,  was  the  professor  of 
divinity  in  this  seminary,^  and  at  the  same  time  president  of  the 
college. 

The  stirring  times  that  preceded  the  Revolution  and  that  attended 
it  left  no  time  for  considering  the  peaceful  matters  of  education. 
New  Jersey  was  largely  a  battlelield  during  much  of  that  trying  period. 
Mothers  were  the  instructors  of  their  children  during  the  campaigns  in 
which  husbands  and  sons  were  patriotically  engaged.  Neither  local 
nor  general  movements  respecting  education  can  be  traced,  and  most 
of  the  institutions  of  higher  education  which  had  been  founded  before 
this  time  were  closed  and  scattered  by  tbe  rough  necessities  of  war. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  we  desire  to  refer  briefly  to  a  peculiar 
feature  of  higher  education  at  this  time.  This  was  the  resort  to  lotteries 
for  the  endowment  of  colleges  and  academies.  These  baneful  agencies 
were  brought  to  us  from  England,  where  they  had  flourished  from  1569. 
They  had  taken  a  firm  hold  upon  the  new  communities  throughout  all 
the  colonies,  and  they  continued  down  well  into  the  present  century 
before  they  were  stifled  by  public  opinion  and  eradicated  by  law.  Lot- 
teries were  resorted  to  for  almost  all  kinds  of  public  expenditures,  such 
as  building  bridges,  erecting  jails  and  court-houses,  bi>ilding  and  repair- 
ing academy  and  college  buildings,  and  aiding  churches  in  the  erection 
of  edifices  and  in  the  payment  of  debts.  The  early  colleges  in  this  and 
adjoining  States  all  had  resort  to  this  questionable  agency. 

When  Princeton  College^  during  its  sojourn  in  Newark  was  strug- 
gling through  its  early  trials,  President  Burr  purchased  a  lottery  ticket 
which  drew  a  prize  of  £200.     It  is  amusing  to  learn  that  this  piece  of 

'  Rev.  Dr.  D.  D.  Demarest,  who  served  as  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
Rutgers  College  from  1866  to  the  time  of  his  death  iu  1898,  has  written  for  this  work 
a  sketch  of  the  college,  which  will  lie  found  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 

-A  sketch  of  this  first  theological  seminary  iu  the  United  States  has  been  written 
for  this  work  by  Rev.  E.  T.  Corwin,  D.  I).,  and  will  be  found  on  a  subsequent  page. 

'These  instances  of  Princeton  College  dealing  iu  lotteries  are  taken  from  an  article 
in  the  Sunday  Call,  of  Newark,  November  11, 1891,  by  William  R.  Weeks,  esq. 


THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  27 

good  luck  greatly  exhilarated  the  president,  and  that  his  spirits,  which 
had  beeu  before  low,  were  greatly  refreshed. 

Ill  1750  we  read  in  the  Pennsylvania  Journal  an  advertisement  of  a 

"  sclieme  for  a  lottery  to  be  set  up  for  the  benefit  of  the  New  Jersey  College,  to  con- 
sist of  8,000  tickets  of  SOs.  each,  or  £12,000.  The  managers  '  hope  those  who  wish 
well  to  the  education  of  the  rising  generation  will  encourage  the  design,  which  is  to 
i'urnish  the  youth  with  all  nsefnl  learning,  and  at  the  same  time  to  instill  into  their 
minds  the  principles  of  morality  and  piety.'" 

As  Mr.  Weeks  remarks,  the  general  assembly  had  already,  in  1748, 
forbidden  lotteries  in  Xew  Jersey,  and  therefore  this  very  lottery  which 
was  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  the  youth  the  principles  of  morality  and 
piety,  had  to  be  drawn  in  a  neighboring  province.  Three  years  later, 
in  1753,  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was  concerned  in  another  lottery, 
which  for  the  same  reason  could  not  be  held  in  New  Jersey,  but  was  to 
be  drawn  in  Connecticut.  In  1702  the  assembly,  by  special  act,  author- 
ized the  College  of  New  Jersey  "  to  raise  by  a  lottery  a  sum  of  money 
for  the  use  of  said  college,"  the  amount  not  to  exceed  £3,000.  This  lot- 
tery was  drawn  accordingly,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  full  amount  sought 
for  was  secured.  In  1772  Dr.  Witherspoon  himself  and  another  trustee 
were  concerned  for  the  college  in  a  lottery  drawn  at  Newcastle,  Del. 
In  17G1  a  lottery  was  authorized  and  drawn  for  the  benefit  of  St.  Peter's 
Church,  at  Perth  Amboy,  for  the  purpose  of  rei^airing  the  church  and 
schoolhouse  and  ferry  house.  In  the  same  year  a  lottery  was  author- 
ized for  St.  Mary's  Church,  at  Burlington,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing 
the  church,  parsonage,  and  burying  ground. 

After  the  war  for  independence  was  over  the  rage  for  lotteries  broke 
out  afi  esh,  and  the  legislature  authorized  many  schemes  for  various 
educational  and  religious  purposes.  Thus  in  1786  the  Presbyterian 
churches  at  Elizabethtown  and  New  Brunswick  held  lotteries,  of  which 
the  highest  prize  was  $2,500  and  the  lowest  was  $20.  It  is  said  that 
the  church  at  New  Brunswick  received  about  $3,350. 

In  1791  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  at  Newton  was  favored  with 
a  lottery-.  In  1793  the  Presbyterian  churches  at  Bridgeton  and  at  Mid- 
dletowu  Point  and  the  Baptist  Church  at  Piscataway  were  each  allowed 
by  the  legislature  to  raise  money  by  the  means  of  lotteries.  In  the 
same  year  the  trustees  of  the  Newark  Academy,  which  had  been  char- 
tered in  1792,  were  authorized  to  hold  a  lottery  to  net  the  academy  the 
sum  of  $4,000.  The  newly  chartered  academy  was  really  the  successor 
of  a  jirecediug  corporation  whose  building  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
British  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  the  trus- 
tees pleaded  for  the  i)rivi]ege  of  making  up  their  loss.  Several  draw- 
ings were  held,  but  it  is  not  known  whether  the  stipulated  sum  was 
obtained. 

It  is  said  also  that  early  in  the  i^reseut  century  the  trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  applied  to  the  legislature  for  leave  to  hold 
another  lottery  for  its  benefit;  but  the  permission  was  not  granted. 


28  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

In  the  year  1812  a  lottery  was  authorized  for  the  benefit  of  Queen's 
College.  The  affair  seems  to  have  been  badly  managed,  however, 
because  after  the  expenses  and  prizes  were  paid  nothing  remained  for 
the  college.  Under  these  circumstances  the  trustees  appealed  again,  in 
18j2,  to  the  legislature  for  the  privilege  of  erecting  a  new  lottery,  set- 
ting forth  the  fact  that  the  college  had  not  in  the  i)revious  drawing 
netted  anything.  The  lottery  was  authorized  accordingly,  and  the 
privileges  of  the  law  were  transferred  to  Messrs.  Yates  and  Mclutyre, 
who  undertook  to  manage  the  affair  and  pay  over  to  the  college  the 
profits.  It  is  believed  that  the  college  realized  about  820,000  from  this 
venture. 


Chapter  IIL 

MOVEMENTS    IN    BEHALF    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION. 


With  the  establishment  of  peace  in  1783  New  Jersey,  as  well  as  the 
other  States  of  the  Union,  entered  upon  a  career  of  great  prosperity 
and  of  enlightened  activity.  Everywhere  it  was  recognized  that  educa- 
tion was  the  necessary  condition  of  successful  self-government.  Both 
the  State  and  the  local  governments  turned  eagerly  to  the  work  of 
providing  suitable  schools  and  schoolhouses  for  the  rising  generation. 
It  was  at  this  early  period  that  the  State  legislature  began  to  lay  plans 
for  creating  a  public  fund  for  the  support  of  free  schools.  Many  of  the 
local  academies  came  into  existence  about  this  time  and  contributed 
not  a  little  to  the  intellectual  progress  of  the  State.  In  ISIG  the  State 
legislature  directed  that  $15,000  be  set  aside  and  invested  as  a  perma- 
nent fund,  and  in  the  two  following  years  it  added  to  the  amount,  so 
that  it  was  increased  to  $113,238.78.  In  1821:  it  was  ])rovided  that  one- 
tenth  of  all  the  State  tax  should  every  year  be  added  to  the  school 
fund.  The  citizens  of  any  township  were  authorized  by  a  law  of  1820 
to  raise  money  by  taxation  to  provide  for  the  education  of  iioor  children, 
and  in  1828  they  were  authorized  in  their  discretion  to  raise  money  for 
the  erection  and  repair  of  schoolhouses.  In  the  meantime  the  interest 
of  intelligent  and  patriotic  minds  was  becoming  aroused  in  reference 
to  the  necessity  of  some  general  system  of  education  for  the  State. 
This  movement  was  the  retlex  of  the  action  which  was  being  taken  in 
many  of  the  surrounding  States^ — in  Xew  York,  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  almost  all  the  States  of  New  England. 

'  Dr.  Parmley,  in  an  address  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  a  new  bnilding  at 
the  Peddie  Institute,  gives  an  anecdote  of  a  New  England  clergyman  traveling,  about 
the  year  1820,  On  the  way  he  encountered  a  widow  with  her  two  sons.  He  took 
some  interest  in  the  hoys,  and  asked  the  lady  which  way  she  was  traveling.  She 
told  him  she  was  going  to  eastern  New  Jersey  to  settle.  He  exclaimed,  "  Why  do 
you  go  there;  do  you  not  know  that  there  are  no  good  schools  there?  There  are  no 
good  isohool-teachers  and  most  of  them  are  immoral." 

I  think  this  opinion  of  the  clergman  is  an  expression  of  the  prejudice  which 
commonly  prevailed  in  New  England  against  New  Jersey.  Mr,  Deshler  declares 
that  the  prejudice  is  unfounded.  He  says  he  has  examined  the  lists  of  the  claims 
of  citizens  of  Middlesex  County  for  the  destruction  of  property  by  the  British  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  About  600  persons  gave  receipts  for  amounts  received  by  them. 
Of  this  number  not  over  sixteen  were  unable  to  sign  their  name  and  were  obliged  to 
make  their  mark.  It  is  certain  at  that  time  the  w<aut  of  education  was  not  con- 
spicuous in  New  Jersey. 

29 


30  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JER.SEY. 

In  Volume  III  of  Barnard's  Journal  of  Education  we  find  an  inter- 
esting letter  from  Xathan  Hedges,  esq.,  giving  his  recollections  of  the 
schools  of  the  early  years  of  the  present  century.  He  says  that  at 
the  beginning  of  the  century  Morristown  was  distinguished  for  its 
educational  advantages.  There  flourished  at  that  time  two  academies 
in  the  village,  having  a  reputation  which  brought  them  patronage 
from  New  York,  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  There  was  a 
country  school  near  at  hand,  which  was  taught  from  1799  to  1S06  by 
a  cruel  old  man,  nicknamed  "Clubber  Blair."  The  schoolhouse  was  of 
logs,  and  10  feet  square.  There  was  a  rougii  desk,  which  was  attached 
to  the  wall  on  one  side,  as  a  place  for  the  older  pupils  to  write.  The 
younger  pupils  were  seated  on  rough  slab  benches.  At  one  end  of  the 
room  was  a  large  fireplace,  which  was  supposed  to  heat  the  room  suf- 
ficiently even  in  the  coldest  weathei*.  The  books  made  use  of  were 
Dilworth's  Spelling  Book  and  the  New  Testament.  Mr.  Hedges  says 
he  does  not  remember  the  use  of  any  arithmetic  in  this  country  school. 
Geography  and  English  grammar  were  not  thought  of;  to  spell,  write, 
read,  and  work  the  four  ground  rules  of  arithmetic  were  the  only 
things  ever  taught  in  these  common  schools.     Mr.  Hedges  says: 

The  cruel  master  would  give  me  au  example  of  multiplyiug  four  figures  by  four 
figures,  and  because  I  could  not  do  it  lie  would  beat  my  bare  feet  Avith  a  hickory 
stick.  He  furnished  us  uo  help,  but  relied  on  severity  to  make  us  accomplish  the 
tasks  set  us;  and  of  this  severity  we  were  expected  never  to  complain.  The  teach- 
ing was  of  the  poorest;  the  only  object  of  these  wretched  teachers  was  to  get  their 
scanty  wages  during  the  three  to  six  months  that  they  were  employad. 

In  1807  Mr.  Hedges  became  a  pupil  in  the  new  Warren  Academy  in 
the  village  of  Morristown,  under  James  Stevenson,  a  Scotchman,  who 
was  a  kind,  good  teacher.  Writing  was  here  well  taught  by  an  accom- 
plished master. 

In  arithmetick  we  had  Dilworth  for- our  text-book,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  was 
carried  was  the  rule  of  three.  Decimal  currency,  although  now  the  currency  of 
the  country,  was  not  taught.  Reading  was  taught  mechanically,  Bingham's  Amer- 
ican Preceptor  and  Scott's  Lessons  l>eing  the  principal  readi'ig  books.  English 
grammar  was  jioorly  taught.  We  merely  committed  the  rules  of  grammar  to 
memory,  but  did  not  leai-n  to  analyze  or  parse.  Murray's  Abi'idgement  of  English 
Grammar  was  the  text-book,  and  we  learned  less  in  six  months  than  now  in  a  week. 
Geography  was  not  taught,  and  there  was  in  the  school  neither  book,  map,  or  globe. 
History,  geometry,  and  higher  mathematics  were  equally  neglected. 

In  1809  Mr.  Hedges  was  promoted  to  the  classical  department  and 
commenced  the  study  of  Latin.  This  language  was  studied,  mainly, 
memoriter.  Further  study  of  English  was  i^ursued;  Guthrie's  New 
System  of  Modern  Geography  was  used;  there  was  a  map  of  Europe 
on  the  wall,  but  neither  it  nor  the  terrestrial  globe  was  more  than  au 
ornament. 

Mr.  Hedges  gives  some  account  of  another  academy  in  Morristown 
of  which  at  first  in  1799  Rev.  Samuel  Wlielpley,  of  Lenox,  Mass.,  was 
principal.  In  1811  his  son,  Rev.  William  A.  Whelpley,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  became  princii^al.     He  was  an  excellent  scholar  and  a  good 


1  V  3  5 


LOG   SCHOOL    HOUSE. 
From  th.-  c-ntfimial  chart  of  the  N.'W  York  I)e,,artin..nt  of  Public  Instruction.  ISO-'i 


MOVEMENTS    IN    BEHALF    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION.  31 

teacher.  Mr.  Hedges  entered  this  academy  iu  1810.  There  were  three 
departments:  Juvenile,  English,  and  Classical.  There  were  sixty  stu- 
dents iu  the  classical  department,  almost  all  boarders  from  Xew  York 
and  the  Southern  States.  The  classical  instruction  was  excellent.  In 
English  reading  forty  or  more  stood  up  iu  a  class  and  read,  each  in  suc- 
cession, a  sentence  or  two  from  Murray's  sequel  to  his  English  Eeader. 
English  grammar  was  not  taught.  Mathematics  and  geography  were 
very  little  cultivated.  The  blackboard  which  is  now  so  essential  to  the 
equipment  of  a  schoolroom,  was  utterly  unknown. ' 

The  circumstances  in  which  modern  schools  so  far  surpass  those  of 
half  a  century  ago  are  text-books,  school  apparatus,  paper,  etc.  The 
teachers  of  that  early  day  were  very  frequently  foreigners,  and  too  often 
intemperate.  They  had  left  their  native  lands  because  they  had  tired 
out  the  patience  and  benevolence  of  friends  at  home,  and  came  to  a 
new  country  to  find  for  themselves  a  new  career. 

It  will  be  profitable,  I  am  sure,  at  this  point  to  dwell  upon  the  char- 
acter and  methods  of  the  schools  as  they  existed  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century.-  I  have  at  hand  extensive  notes  taken  from  the 
manuscript  of  Hon.  C  I).  Deshler,  whose  recollection  goes  back  to  the 
schools  he  attended  in  New  Brunswick  as  early  as  1826.  He  kindly 
permits  me  to  use  what  may  suit  my  purpose  from  his  interesting  and 
valuable  reminiscences. 

Mr.  Deshler's  recollections  go  back  to  1826,  when  he  was  7  years  old. 
He  remembers  being  taught  to  read  from  Mrs.  Barbauld's  Poimlar  Les- 

'  Mahlou  Johnson,  who  died  in  1857  at  80  years  of  age  describes  the  early  schools 
in  Morris  Connty:  "The  school  building  was  constructed  of  logs,  and  instead  of 
glass  for  windows,  sheepskins  were  stretched  over  apertures  made  by  sawing  off" 
an  occasional  log.  These  windows  had  one  virtue — they  were  an  eft'ectual  screen  to 
prevent  pupils  from  being  interrupted  in  their  exercises  by  what  was  going  on  out- 
side. The  time  was  regulated  by  an  hourglass  ;  and  the  pupils  drank  water  from  a 
tumbler  made  of  cow's  horn,  or  from  a  ground  shell.  Arithmetic  was  not  taught  in 
classes,  but  pupils  ciphered  each  on  his  own  account  when  he  was  not  engaged  in 
reading,  spelling,  or  writing.  These  latter  branches  were  taught  in  classes.  A  chalk 
line  or  a  crack  in  the  floor  was  the  mark  they  were  required  to  toe.  The  common 
school  was  hardly  a  school  in  those  days,  unless  the  whack  of  the  ruler  or  the  whistle 
of  the  whip  was  heard.'' 

-It  may  be  a  matter  of  some  interest  to  see  how  the  schools  of  the  first  part  of  the 
century  were  classified.  Mr.  Duushee,  in  his  history  of  the  Collegiate  Church 
School  (p.  71),  gives  the  division  and  studies  of  the  school  in  1810,  which  during  the 
preceding  year  had  been  rearranged  according  to  the  Lancasterian  system. 

In  sand. — First  class:  ABC  and  figures.  Second  class:  Monosyllables.  Third 
class:  Words  of  two  syllables  and  writing  the  same  on  slate. 

On  slate. — Fourth  class:  Words  of  more  than  two  syllables  and  irregular  words. 
Fifth  class:  Reading  in  Child's  Instructor  and  Catechism.  Sixth  class:  Reading  in 
New  Testament  History  and  Heidelberg  Catechism. 

Seventh  class:  Reading  in  Old  Testament,  Murray's  Grammar,  and  penmanship. 

All  to  study  arithmetic  at  the  discretion  of  the  teacher. 

In  1818  the  hours  of  the  school  were  fixed  fi-om  9  to  3  o'clock  from  15th  of  Novem- 
ber to  15th  of  March,  and  in  1820  the  hours  were  fixed  from  9  to  3  o'clock  throughout 
the  year. 


32  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

sons,  and  how  he  was  an  insatiable  reader  even  at  that  early  age.  He 
speaks  of  Mr.  White,  a  teacher  who  was  a  skillful  mathematician  and 
a  sharp  disciplinarian,  using  the  strap  and  the  ferule.  He  was  an 
Irishman  and  often  drank  to  excess.  In  1827  Mr.  Deshler  was  enrolled 
in  the  school  of  Mr.  Spalding,  of  whom  he  speaks  as  follows: 

ilr.  Spaldiug  was  a  man  of  fair  complexion,  rather  below  the  medinm  height,  well 
proportioned,  muscular,  virile,  energetic,  and  full  of  spirit  and  vivacity.  There 
were  several  boys  in  the  school  who  were  as  large  as  he,  but  there  was  not  one 
among  them  who  ever  manife.ste'd  a  disposition  to  measure  his  strength  or  will  with 
him.  He  Avas  a  strict  disciplinarian  ;  at  my  lirst  coming  to  his  school  he  nsed  the  fer- 
ule or  the  rod,  but  always  in  moderation,  and  at  length  entirely  discarded  them.  I 
recall  one  memorable  occasion  before  he  had  banished  flogging  from  his  school 
when  one  of  the  largest  boys  had  disgraced  himselfseveral  times  by  grossly  neglect- 
ing his  studies,  "playing  hookey,''  and  general  misconduct.  Mr.  Spalding  thought 
he  was  too  large  to  be  flogged  before  the  school  and  took  him  upstairs  to  the  lumber 
loft  where  the  inkstands,  etc.,  were  stored  and  gave  him  a  good  hiding  with  only 
those  silent  and  uuobserving  witnesses.  Flogging,  however,  seemed  to  do  the  young 
rascal  no  good,  and  Mr.  Spalding  told  him  so  in  the  presence  of  all  the  school, 
adding  that  he  was  ashamed  to  flog  so  big  a  boy.  He  was  almost  a  man,  said  Mr. 
Spalding,  and  should  begin  to  think  and  act  as  a  man.  Hereafter  he  should  not  be 
flogged,  but  if  he  continued  his  misconduct  he  should  be  turned  out  of  school. 

This  came  to  the  ears  of  the  father,  an  excellent  but  stern  and  determined  man, 
and  the  next  day  he  abrui)tly  entered  the  schocd  at  the  morning  session  and  walking 
across  the  room  to  Mr.  Spalding's  desk,  after  shaking  hands  with  him,  addressed  him 
in  tones  impressively  audible  to  us  all,  substantially  as  follows:  "Mr.  Spalding,  I 
hear  mj'  son  Dave"  (so  we  will  call  him  for  convenience'  sake)  "has  been  disgracing 
me  and  himself  by  his  misconduct,  and  that  you  have  told  him  you  are  ashamed 
any  longer  to  flog  so  large  a  boy,  and  if  his  conduct  is  persisted  in  you  will  turn 
him  out  of  school.  Now,  Mr.  Spalding,  I  don't  want  Dave  to  be  turned  out  of 
school,  but  I  do  want  you  to  keep  him  on  and  see  if  you  can't  make  a  man  of  him. 
I  understand  why  you  are  ashamed  to  flog  him  any  more  and  I  respect  your  feelings; 
but,  sir,  I,  as  his  father,  though  as  much  ashamed  as  you  are  to  flog  him,  now  that 
he  is  almost  a  man  grown,  have  made  up  my  mind  what  is  my  duty  as  long  as  he 
eats  my  bread  and  butter  and  wastes  my  money  by  his  idleness.  I  shall  not  ask  you 
to  flog  Dave;  I'll  do  it  myself,  whenever  he  needs  it." 

Here  the  speaker  i)aused,  drew  from  under  his  greatcoat  a  huge  rawhide,  which 
he  flourished  as  if  he  meant  business,  and  then  resumed:  "Does  he  deserve  a  flog- 
ging this  morning,  Mr.  Spalding?"     "No,"  was  the  quick  reply,  "David  has  done 

nothing  amiss  this  morning,  Mr. ."     "Very  well,"  said  Mr. ,  "I  will 

leave  my  cowskin  here  in  your  care,  and  when  the  time  of  need  comes  you  will  jilease 
send  for  me.  Only,  if  you  do  send  for  me,  Mr.  Spalding,  Dave  "  (here  the  speaker 
glared  upon  the  culprit)  "  will  have  occasion  to  remember  it  as  long  as  he  lives." 

Whereupon  Mr, handed  the  eloquent  rawhide  to  Mr,  Spaldiug,  bade  him 

"good  morning,"  and  strode  out  of  the  room  amid  the  breathless  silence  of  all  the 
boys,  whose  eyes,  as  the  door  closed,  turned  with  one  accord  ujion  the  now  abject 
Dave.  Mr.  Spaldiug  then  quietly  deposited  the  rawhide  in  his  desk,  locked  it,  and 
resumed  his  duties  as  serenely  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  happened. 

It  is  a  satisfaction  to  say  that  Mr. never  had  occasion  to  use  this  particular 

"cowskin''  on  Dave,  who,  from  that  day  forward,  became  commendably  diligent 
and  gave  ujt  "  playing  hookey."  I  hare  always  had  a  shrewd  suspicion  since  I  came 
to  years  of  discretion  that  the  little  drama  I  have  depicted  had  been  carefully 

rehearsed  beforehand  by  Mr. and  Mr.  Spalding,  who,  I  have  no  doubt,  often 

chuckled  together  over  the  success  that  attended  their  bit  of  acting. 


MOVEMENTS    IN    BEHALF    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION.  33 

Mr.  Spaldiug  was  a  man  of  large  and  varied  reading  and  a  good  scholar.  He 
excelled  iu  grammar,  elocution,  and  niatliematics.  Among  the  text-l)ooks  which  he 
used  were  Morse's  and  Woodbridge's  geographies,  Dalioll's  Arithmetic,  together  with 
several  books  in  surveying  and  the  higher  malhematics,  Liudley  Murray's  (afterwards 
superseded  by  Kirkhani's)  English  Grammar,  Walker's  Dictionary,  Burhan's  Nomen- 
clature, the  English  Reader,  the  American  Preceptor,  Popular  Lessons,  Jack  Hal- 
yard, Goldsmith's  Polite  Learning,  Locke's  Essay,  Hume's  England,  and  Marshall's 
Washington.  And  among  the  equipments  of  the  schoolroom  were  a  large  black- 
board, terrestrial  and  celestial  gloVies  and  maps,  an  orrery,  a  square,  comjiass,  and 
dividers,  and  an  assortment  of  handsomely  engraved  copy  heads  in  line  and  coarse 
script,  in  the  old-fashioned,  symmetrical  round  hand. 

"  *  *  Reading  aloud  was  regarded  by  him  (Mr.  Spalding)  as  one  of  the  most 
important  exercises  of  the  school,  inasmuch  as  he  considered  it  one  of  the  most 
indispensable  accomplishments  of  a  gentleman  or  gentlewoman;  and  it  was  con- 
ducted in  this  wise:  The  reading  book  was  the  old  "English  Reader,"  an  admirable 
body  of  selections  of  sterling  pieces  from  standard  writers  and  speakers,  including 
essays,  orations,  narrative  and  descriptive  jiassages,  excerpts  from  poems,  dramas, 
etc.,  each  of  which  was  jjunctuated  with  accentuation  marks  which  the  pupil  was 
obliged  to  observe  as  sedulously  as  he  observed  the  usual  more  familiar  punctuation 
points.  The  preparation  for  reading  aloud  from  this  book,  therefore,  involved 
much  previous  study  and  practice.  When  the  hour  of  the  exercise  arrived,  all 
the  pupils  who  could  read  fluently,  without  regard  to  age  or  divisions  of  classes, 
never  less  than  forty  or  fifty,  ranged  themselves  iu  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  iu  front 
of  Mr.  Spalding's  platform.  The  pupil  at  the  head  of  the  class  began  the  exercise. 
If  he  read  his  allotted  portion  without  mistake  or  error,  the  next  took  up  the  burden, 
and  the  next,  and  so  on  until  each  had  read  his  share.  But  if,  while  any  pupil  was 
reading,  some  other  pupil  below  him  in  the  class  cried  out  "challenge,"  he  stopped. 
Mr.  Spaldiug  would  ask,  "What  is  the  challenge?"  The  challenger  would  reply, 
designating  the  error  of  accent,  emphasis,  inflection,  modulation,  articulation,  pro- 
nunciation, or  Avhatever  mistake  it  might  be,  which  he  thought  had  been  committed. 
If  the  challenger  made  out  a  case  which  Mr.  Sjialding  considered  valid,  he  bowed 
his  head  in  assent,  whereupon  the  challenger  and  challenged  exchanged  places.  It 
might  be,  as  I  have  often  seen,  a  little  fellow  of  8  or  10,  low  down  in  the  class, 
displacing  a  big  fellow  of  16  or  18,  high  up  or  at  the  head.  If  his  successful 
challenge  took  a  boy  to  the  head  of  the  class,  it  was  then  the  duty  of  the  uew 
head  boy  to  fight  for  possession  by  at  once  reading  the  next  portion;  and  if  his 
reading  passed  without  a  successful  challenge,  he  was  recognized  as  the  "head"  till 
he  could  be  displaced  in  the  regular  way.  If  it  happened  that  a  reader  made  any 
mistakes  which  passed  undetected  and  unchallenged  by  his  fellows,  at  the  close  of 
the  exercise  Mr.  Spalding  pointed  them  out,  fixed  the  attention  of  the  class  upon 
them,  and  supplied  the  proper  corrections.     *"     *     " 

Another  of  Mr.  Spalding's  methods  is  ('(j^ually  worthy  of  description  and  imitation. 
This  was  the  "dictation  exercise"  to  which  the  afternoon  of  each  Wednesday  was 
appropriated,  and  iu  which  every  scholar  participated  and  was  required  to  be  toler- 
ably proficient  before  being  allowed  to  write  original  compositions.  The  manner  ef 
the  exercise  was  as  follows :  The  whole  school  in  both  departments  was  thrown  into 
one  room  by  opening  the  sliding  doors  which  separated  them.  Then  the  pupil, 
whether  boy  or  girl,  who  had  maintained  the  highest  standing  in  the  reading  class 
during  the  previous  week  would  take  a  stand  on  a  movable  platform  on  one  side  of 
the  space  between  the  two  departments,  the  position  being  sideways  and  in  full  view 
of  every  scholar  in  the  entire  school.  At  the  same  time,  the  rest  of  the  school  seated 
at  their  desks  got  in  readiness  their  slates  and  a  supply  of  well-sharpened  slate  pencils. 

When  all  were  ready,  at  the  tap  of  Mr.  Spalding's  bell,  the  reader — for  such  was 
the  ofiice  of  the  schcjlar  stationed  iu  the  center  of  the  schocjl — began  to  read  a  selec- 
tion from  some  book,  previously  selected  by  Mr.  Spalding.  Among  the  books  which 
20687— i^o.  23 3 


34  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

were  used  at  these  readings  I  recall  Mrs.  Opie's  and  Miss  Edgeworth's  Tales;  Jane 
Taylor's  Contributions  of  Q.  Q.;  Milton's  Poetical  Works;  Addison's  Spectator;  Gold- 
smitli's  Traveler  and  Deserted  Village;  Irviug's  Sketch  Book,  etc.  It  was  under- 
stood that  the  reading  should  be  deliberate  and  slow,  in  a  distinct  tone  and  care- 
fully enunciated,  special  emphasis  being  laid  on  clearness  and  enunciation.  As 
the  reading  went  on,  it  was  the  duty  of  all  the  pupils  to  reproduce  on  their  slates 
what  was  read  as  rapidly  as  it  was  delivered — literally  if  they  could,  or,  if  not,  to 
give  its  sense.  The  reading  continued  until  both  sides  of  the  slates  were  lilled,  which 
was  indicated  by  one  or  more  of  the  advanced  pupils  rising  and  calling  out  "full." 
To  facilitate  the  exercise  the  children  had  been  taught  to  use  certain  abbreviations 
and  contractions  and  were  encouraged  to  improvise  others;  and  many  of  them 
became  exceedingly  expert  in  the  use  of  their  own  ingenious  stenograjihic  substitutes. 

When  the  slates  were  full,  as  I  have  described,  each  pupil  employed  the  rest  of  the 
afternoon  in  making  a  fair  pen-and-ink  copy  of  his  or  her  work,  writing  out  each 
word  in  full  and  punctuating  it  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  The  copy  was  then  folded 
in  a  prescribed  form,  indorsed  with  its  owner's  name,  and  laid  on  Mr.  SiJalding's 
desk  the  next  morning.  On  the  following  day  he  announced  the  names  of  the  most 
successful,  nuide  encouraging  allusions  to  others,  and  gave  helpful  suggestions  for 
their  benefit. 

The  selections  chosen  for  these  dictation  exercises,  as  has  been  said,  were  some- 
times in  prose  and  sometimes  in  verse;  and  it  will  be  easily  understood  how  much 
of  a  task  it  was  to  reproduce  the  lines  of  the  latter  correctly,  esijecially  in  the  case , 
of  blank  verse,  which  lacks  the  rhyme  that  "rudder  is  of  verse."  In  deciding  the 
merits  of  the  transcripts  which  were  submitted  to  him,  Mr.  Spalding  took  e^'ery- 
thing  into  due  consideration — punctuation,  orthography,  the  xise  of  capitals,  the 
diA'ision  into  sentences,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  reproductions.  And  some  of  his 
most  instructive  lessons  were  those  which  he  deduced  from  our  failures,  and  in  which 
he  showed  not  merely  how  and  where,  but  why  we  had  failed — whether  because  of 
undue  haste,  ignorance,  nervousness,  lack  of  concentrated  attention,  or  otherwise. 
The  value  of  these  exercises,  in  which  some  of  the  pupils  acquired  remarkable  pro- 
ficiency, can  not  be  overestimated.  They  traine  1  us  in  habits  of  fixed  attention,  in 
rapidity  of  penmanship,  in  accuracy  and  facility  of  expression,  and  in  correctness 
of  grammar,  spelling,  the  use  of  capitals,  and  last,  but  not  least,  punctuation.  On 
more  than  one  occasion  in  after  life,  during  my  experience  as  an  editor,  I  have  been 
able  to  report  an  important  speech  with  literal  exactness  by  a  recourse  to  my  practi- 
cal expertness  as  a  schoolboy  in  this  exercise.     *     *     ^ 

Mr.  Spalding  applied  ihe  stimulus  of  competition  and  emulation  to  what  he  called 
*'  the  spelling  and  defining  exercise."     *     *     * 

Mr.  Spalding  was  in  advance  of  his  times  in  the  matter  of  corporal  punishment, 
having  discarded  it  from  his  school  when  it  was  in  universal  use  among  his  contem- 
poraries. Thoroughly  understanding  boy  nature,  he  knew  that  the  jirinciple  of 
rewards  and  punishments  was  as  salutary  with  them  as  with  mankind  at  large,  and 
he  early  realized  that  he  must  devise  some  substitute  for  the  corporal  punishments 
which  he  had  banished.  Under  his  new  system  the  most  condign  of  all  punishments 
was  that  of  making  a  spectacle  of  an  ofil'ender  before  the  girl  pupils.     *     *     * 

His  other  punishments  were  similarly  devised,  with  a  thorough  comprehension  of 
boy  nature,  in  which,  after  all,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature.  Ho  knew 
that  boys  hated  to  be  made  ridiculous;  that,  at  the  same  time,  they  had  a  keen 
sense  of  the  ridiculous,  and  were  ever  ready  to  laugh  without  mercy  at  those  who 
were  i)lace(l  in  ridiculous  situations;  and  he  utilized  this  knowledge  very  effect- 
ively to  make  every  boy  in  the  school,  save  the  culprit,  his  assistants  in  administer- 
ing punishments. 

I  will  recall  a  few  of  his  methods:  If,  when  his  attention  was  supposed  to  b8 
engrossed  elsewhere,  a  boy  were  caught  in  the  act  of  slyly  throwing  at  another  a 
paper  pellet,  or,  in  schoolboy  phrase,  "spit  ball,"  the  offender  was  made  to  stand  in 
a  conspicuous  jilace  and  alternately  to  chew  and  make  fresh  pellets  for  a  specified 
number  of  minutes  and  to  stand  for  another  specified  time  as  if  in  the  act  of  throw- 
ing, both  of  which  occupations  provoked  the  merriment  of  the  rest  of  the  scholars 


MOVEMENTS    IN    BEHALF    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION.  35 

at  liis  expense,  but,  so  far  from  being  diverting  to  liimsell',  became  iutolerably  irk- 
some loug  before  the  expiration  of  the  allotted  time. 

Again  if,  when  Mr.  Spalding's  baclv  were  turned,  a  boy  yielded  to  the  temptation 
to  lean  across  his  desk  and  tweak  the  hair  or  twitch  the  coat  of  the  fellow  in  front 
of  him,  and  was  detected  in  the  act  by  Mr.  .Spalding,  he  wonld  be  ordered  to  keep 
the  exact  position  in  Avhich  he  was  caught  for  five  or  ten  minutes,  till  he  became 
stift',  wearied,  penitent,  and  in  an  agony  of  mortification  at  the  ill-suppressed  titter- 
ings of  his  schoolmates. 

Mr.  Spalding's  rewards  were  equally  as  salutary  and  effective  as  his  punishments. 
He  never  gave  medals  or  prizes  of  any  kind  to  his  boys,  but  signified  his  approba- 
tion by  a  pronounced  deference  of  manner  and  a  degree  of  consideration  and  trust 
which  was  more  highly  valued  than  medals  or  prizes  could  possibly  have  been.  He 
appealed  to  our  sense  of  honor  and  right,  quickened  our  ideals  of  what  was  manly 
and  gentlemanlike,  roused  in  us  a  desire  to  excel,  planted  in  our  minds  the  seeds  of 
thoughtfulness,  application,  industry,  and  honorable  emulation. 

*  *  *  On  one  occasion,  which  will  ever  be  marked  in  my  memory  as  a  "  white 
day,"  the  first  snow  of  the  winter  had  set  in.  The  air  was  alive  with  the  quick- 
falling,  noiseless,  beautiful  flakes,  just  moist  enough  to  "jjack"  most  suggestively. 
The  school  gradually  grew  restless,  eyes  wandered  from  books  and  slates  and  glanced 
out  of  the  window  with  longing  and  anticipation.  But  not  a  word  of  censure  Oi- 
rebuke  came  from  Mr.  Spalding.  Instead,  as  soon  as  a  pause  came  in  the  exercises 
be  taliped  the  bell,  and  to  the  infinite  satisfaction  of  all  announced  tliat  there 
would  be  an  intermission  of  ten  minutes  for  snowballing  in  the  school  yard,  whither 
he  preceded  us  and  joined  us  in  the  merry  sport  as  lustily  as  any  boy  among  us,  and 
from  whence  we  returned  I'osy,  hilarious,  and  ready  to  go  to  work  with  all  our 
might.     *     «     * 

The  followiug  examples  of  school  bills  are  selected  from  a  number  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Deshler: 

Judge  Patterson,  Dr.,  to  Master  Willie's  tuition  for  one  quarter  up 

the  3d  instant £1:.5:0  pil. 

Admission 1:0:0  pd. 

Cicero 0:18:0 

3:3:0 
New  Brunswick,  15tli  Augt,  1796,  leceived  tlie  above. 

Benj"  Lindsay. 
W'"  Patterson,  esqr.,  Dr. 

To  account  rendered  Octb.  22 £1:5:4 

To  one  quarter  tuition  for  Wm .*. 1:5:0 

To  wood 0:1:0 

l':ll:4 
Received  payment  in  full  Jan.  22,  1796. 

Jn"  Thompson,  .Jun'. 
1^  cord  of  wood  from  Neilson's  dock. 
3J  cords  of  wood  from  Capt.  Gibb's  dock  in  one  parcel. 

U  cords  at  25/6 £5:14:9 

^  of  a  cord,  Louisa  End  Gibb's  Dock. 

^  of  a  cord,  brot.  from  French's  woods. 

t  a  cord  at  25/6 - 17:0 

6:11:9 

Money  paid 7:0:0 

6:11:9 

Balance  (returned) 8:3 

Reed,  from  William  Patterson,  esij.,  payment  for  the  above  wood,  New  Brunswick, 
Jan.  30,  1784. 

John  Thompson. 


36  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

I  liave  before  me  a  i)aiiipb]et  coutaiuiug-  a  lecture  by  Prof.  Jolm 
Maclean  (afterwards  president),  of  Princeton  College,  delivered  Janu- 
ary 23,  1828,  on  "A  common- school  system  for  New  Jersey."  There 
was,  as  he  states,  at  this  time  much  discussion  about  public  education, 
and  Professor  Maclean  sets  forth  a  S(;heme  for  the  best  administration 
of  the  State  resources  for  public  education.  The  lecture  explains  in 
the  clearest  manner  the  advantages  of,  and  necessity  for,  a  system  of 
common  schools.  It  then  gives  in  detail  the  sources  from  which  the 
State  could  obtain  an  income  which  might  be  appropriated  among  all 
the  townships  and  then  paid  out  pro  rata  to  the  several  school  districts 
on  condition  that  such  districts  should  raise  a  sum  twice  as  great. 

He  proposes  that  the  State  aid  be  distributed  among  the  counties, 
not  in  proportion  to  population  nor  taxation,  but  in  proportion  to  area, 
so  that  counties  needing  most  aid  may  receive  it.  He  proposes  a  kind 
of  rotary  school,  where  the  same  teacher  shall  teach  so  many  weeks  in 
one  school,  so  many  weeks  in  another,  and  then  so  many  weeks  in  a  third. 
The  law  should  allow  a  district  to  have  more  school  weeks  in  the  year, 
provided  that  the  inhabitants  are  willing  to  pay  therefor. 

He  recommends  the  appointment  of  a  State  board  of  education, 
which  shall  choose  a  State  superintendent  of  schools,  and  which  also 
shall  select  for  each  county  an  examiniug  board  to  examine  and  license 
the  teachers  employed  therein.  He  points  out  how  the  State  can  pro- 
mote the  improvement  of  education,  as  for  instance,  by  making  provision 
for  the  education  of  teacher.s.'  This  lecture,  together  with  many  other 
public  expressions  of  leading  men,  produced  a  great  effect  on  the 
legislature. 

A  temporary  movement  in  behalf  of  popular  education  occurred 
about  this  time.  It  took  its  rise  from  the  eftbrts  of  Joseph  Lancaster, 
an  Englishman  who  came  to  America  in  1818.  The  founder  of  the  sys- 
tem which  has  been  called  the  monitorial  system,  the  Madras  system, 
or  the  Lancaster  system,  was  Eev.  Andrew  Bell,  D.  D.,  who  as  chap- 
lain was  called  upon  to  devise  schools  for  the  children  of  civilians  and 
soldiers  in  India.  He  found  it  impossible  to  obtain  teachers  for  his 
schools,  and  it  occurred  to  him  to  employ  the  older  scholars  as  monitors 
for  the  younger  classes.  The  scheme  was  to'  a  certain  extent  success- 
ful, and  Dr.  Bell  was  so  enamored  with  it  that  he  published  a  tract  in 
1797  explaining  and  recommending  it. 

A  few  years  later  (1803)  Joseph  Lancaster  published  a  further  expo- 
sition of  the  monitorial  system,  in  which  he  acknowledges-  his  indebt- 
edness to  Dr.  Bell,  and  by  his  enthusiastic  advocacy  of  it  awakened  a 
considerable  degree  of  interest  in  a  system  of  elementary  education 
which  laid  claim  to  both  efficiency  and  economy.     But  Lancaster  was  a 

'This  was  one  of  the  first  practical  recommendations  for  establishing  plans  for  the 
training-  of  teachers. 

-Afterwards  lie  disavowed  any  credit  for  tlie  idea  ami  claimtd  the  merit  of  hav- 
ing originated  the  entire  system. 


MOVEMENTS    IN    BEHALF    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION.  37 

visionary  and  impractical  man,  and  soon  fell  out  with  the  friends  who 
undertook  to  aid  liim  in  the  development  of  his  ideas.  Under  the  dis- 
appointment caused  b^^  these  disagrt  ements  he  emigrated  to  America 
in  1818,  and  for  twenty  years  busied  himself  in  promoting  his  reforms 
in  education  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

He  was  successful  in  interesting  the  friends  of  education  in  his  cheap 
and  easy  way  of  conducting  schools.  In  many  cities,  in  New  Jersey  as 
well  as  other  States,  so-called  Lancasterian  schools  were  organized, 
which  continued  for  many  years.  The  plan  which  was  followed  in  them 
was  by  no  means  an  ideal  one.  The  older  scholars  in  such  a  school 
were  at  best  very  ineflftcient  teachers.  The  method  could  only  be 
rightly  available  when  other  and  better  teachers  were  not  to  be  had. 
Hence  the  system  gradually  fell  into  disuse  when  the  methods  of  pub- 
lic education  came  into  vogue,  and  when  the  necessity  of  trained  and 
licensed  teachers  became  more  apparent.  As  one  of  the  movements  iu 
education,  however,  the  monitorial  system  deserves  mention. 

In  18:29  a  law  was  passed  appropriating  8-0,000  among  the  several 
counties,  and  providing  for  the  election  of  a  committee  in  each  town- 
ship, who  should  divide  it  into  suitable  districts,  examine  and  license 
teachers,  and  nmke  an  annual  report  to  the  governor.  In  each  district 
there  were  elected  three  trustees,  who  were  to  determine  how  many 
months  the  school  should  be  continued,  to  provide  schoolhouses,  and 
to  report  a  census  of  the  children  in  the  district,  according  to  which 
the  State  money  was  distributed. 

The  report  of  the  committee  for  Morris  County,  of  Mhich  Mr.  Theo- 
dore Frelinghuysen  was  chairman,  contained  in  part  as  follows:  "It  is 
probable  that  this  county  more  richly  enjoys  the  advantages  and  bless- 
ings of  education  than  any  other  iu  the  State."  He  reports  (i)artly 
estimated)  82  schools  in  operation  and  2,800  scholars,  and  says : 

Female  teacliers  are  in  many  places  employed  to  instruct  small  ckildren  in  the 
summer.  The  price  of  tuition  varies  from  $1.50  to  $2  per  quarter.  lieading,  writ- 
ing, and  arithmetic  are  taught  in  the  common  schools;  the  languages  and  the  higher 
hrauches  of  English  education  are  tauglit  in  several  academies,  which  arc  included 
iu  the  above  number.  The  character  of  the  teachers  is  generally  good.  *  *  * 
Their  qualifications  are  in  too  many  instances  not  so  good  as  might  be  wished,  but 
it  is  not  often  that  they  are  grossly  deficient. 

With  respect  to  the  number  of  children  not  educated,  the  committee  are  not  able 
to  state  anything  definite.  In  some  townships  there  art;  said  to  be  very  few  who  are 
not  sent  to  school  a  part  of  the  year;  in  one  about  50  are  mentioned  who  are  desti- 
tute of  instruction;  in  another,  120;  many  of  wliosc  parents  are  not  able  to  give 
them  such  an  education  as  would  be  proper  for  their  station  in  life.  A  neighbor- 
hood iu  one  of  the  townships,  having  about  25  children,  is  represented  as  destitute. 
In  another  township  nearly  150  children  were  ascertained  who  are  not  attending 
school. 

The  population  of  the  county  by  the  last  census  was  21,368.  One-fifth  of  this 
number  ought  to  go  to  school.  That  is,  about  4,000  ought  to  attend  school;  instead 
of  this  number  only  2,800  are  found  to  attend.  It  may  be  estimated  that  about  600 
children  are  destitute  of  the  means  or  the  opportunities  to  attend  school.' 

'  Historj'  of  Morris  County,  pp.  72  and  73. 


38  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

A  second  important  agitation  in  reference  to  public  education  began 
in  1837.  It  arose  out  of  tlie  act  passed  by  the  General  Government  to 
deposit  with  the  several  States  then  in  existence,  pro  rata,  the  surplus 
revenue  that  had  been  accumulated  in  the  United  Statc-s  Treasury. 
New  Jersey  received  as  her  share  of  this  fuiul  $704,070.01.  Gov- 
ernor Dickerson  recommended  that  this  whole  amount  be  added  to  the 
State  school  fund.  It  is  unfortunate  that  this  advice  was  not  taken  by 
the  legislature.  New  York  and  several  other  States  did  appropriate 
their  shares  of  this  fund  to  the  i^urj^oses  of  public  education,  and  thus 
have  to  this  day  funds  available  from  this  source  for  the  State  systems 
of  education.  But  by  an  act  of  the  State  legislature,  passed  March  10, 
J 837,  tlie  deposit  fund  was  distributed  among  the  several  counties  in 
proportion  to  the  State  tax  paid  by  them.  The  fund  was  to  be  held  by 
the  counties  without  interest,  and  was  to  be  loaned  out  to  the  citizens 
of  the  counties,  aud  the  income  therefrom  used  by  the  chosen  freehold- 
ers for  the  benefit  of  said  counties.  In  many  counties  this  income 
was  used  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings  and  for  the  payment  of 
bounties  during  the  civil  war.  Sometimes  it  was  used  for  educational 
purposes  by  the  county  authorities,  but  such  use  was  not  regular 
aud  constant,  but  fitful  and  unstable. 

The  attention  that  was  called  by  this  discussion  to  public  education 
had,  however,  a  beneficial  effect.'  For,  iu  1838,  there  was  a  very  wide- 
spread interest  in  regard  to  reforming  the  system  of  education  iu  the 
State.  A  convention  of  the  friends  of  education  was  held  at  Trenton, 
at  which  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  and  issue  an  address 
to  the  people  of  the  State.  I  have  before  me  this  address,  which  was 
written  by  Bishop  George  W.  Doane,  the  chairman  of  the  committee. 
It  was  an  able,  farsighted,  and  patriotic  document,  and  must  have  stirred 
to  their  lowest  depths  the  best  instincts  of  the  people.  The  legislature 
was  moved  to  increase  the  annual  appropriation  to  $30,000,  and  made 
various  minor  changes  in  the  interest  of  better  schools. 

Bishop  Doane  in  this  address  says : 

If  the  positLons  be  maintained  that  the  education  of  the  people  is  indispensable  to 
the  preservation  of  free  institutions,  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  the  duty  of  every  free 
State  to  provide  for  the  education  of  her  children,  we  are  prepared,  fellow-citizens, 
for  the  inquiry,  How  far  has  provision  been  made  for  the  discharge  of  this  duty  in 
the  State  with  which  we  are  most  intimately  connected,  the  State  of  New  Jersey? 
"  *  *  We  utterly  repudiate  as  unworthy,  not  of  freemen  only,  but  of  men,  the 
narrow  notion  that  there  is  to  be  an  education  for  the  poor  as  such.  Has  God  pro- 
vided for  the  poor  a  coarser  earth,  a  thinner  air,  a  paler  sky?  Does  not  the  glorious 
sun  pour  down  his  golden  Hood  as  cheerily  upon  the  poor  man's  hovel  as  upon  the 
rich  man's  palace?  -  *  *  Mind  is  immortal.  Mind  is  imperial.  It  bears  no 
mark  of  high  or  low,  of  rich  or  poor.  It  heeds  no  bounds  of  time  or  place,  of  rank 
or  circumstance.  It  asksbutfi'eedom.  It  requires  but  light.  *  +  *  The  common 
school  is  common  not  as  inferior,  not  as  the  school  for  the  poor  man's  children,  but 
as  light  and  air  are  common.  It  ought  to  be  the  best  school  because  it  is  the  lirst 
school,  and  in  all  good  works  the  beginning  is  one-half. 

'  For  most  of  the  facts  here  given  in  reference  to  these  important  movements  iu 
education  I  am  indebted  to  the  tiles  of  Barnard's  Journal  of  Education. 


MOVEMENTS    IN    BEHALF    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION.  39 

In  1844  a  provision  was  inserted  in  the  State  constitution  then 
adopted  that  the  school  fund  shouhl  not  be  diverted,  under  any  pre- 
tense whatever,  from  its  legitimate  object.  A  superintendent  of  schools 
was  in  1845  authorized  for  Essex  aud  Passaic  counties,  and  iu  the  year 
following  this  provision  was  extended  to  the  whole  State.  T.  F.  King- 
was  appointed  the  first  State  snperintendent. 

Following  this,  improvements  came  rapidly  in  the  State  system  of 
education.  In  1840  the  law  was  amended  so  as  to  require  each  town- 
ship to  raise  as  much  money  as  the  State  contributed.  Superintendents 
of  townships  were  authorized,  who  were  re(iuired  to  visit  the  schools  at 
least  quarterly.  In  1851  the  annual  sum  appropriated  for  schools  was 
raised  to  $40,000.  The  public  money  was  required  to  be  used  to  main- 
tain a  free  school  in  every  township.  In  1854  teachers'  institutes  were 
established,  and  the  legislature  appropriated  $100  for  each  institute  so 
held.  In  1848  the  draft  of  a  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a  normal  school ' 
w^as  introduced,  but  it  was  not  until  1855  that  it  became  a  law.  This 
act  and  that  in  reference  to  teachers'  institutes  proved  to  be  most 
fruitful  legislation  in  reference  to  education.  Two  of  the  active  w^orkers 
in  the  educational  field  of  that  time  were  Rev.  John  B.  Thompson,  D.  D., 
now  a  resident  of  Trenton,  i^.  J.,  and  Rev.  David  Cole,  D.  D.,  now 
of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.  They  have  each  furnished  me  with  a  statement  of 
the  movements  in  which  they  were  so  prominently  and  beneficially 
engaged.     These  statements  will  be  found  on  subsequent  pages. 

The  teachers'  institutes  in  I^ew  Jersey  owe  much  to  Christopher 
C.  Hoagland,  M.  D.,  of  Somerset  County,  who  had  been  a  resident  of 
New  York  State,  and  had  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  institutes  as 
they  were  conducted  in  that  State  and  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecti 
cut.  He  organized  the  first  teachers'  institute  in  June,  1849,  at  Somer- 
ville,  in  Somerset  County.  This  and  subsequent  institutes  were 
conducted  on  the  plan  of  their  Massachusetts  prototype.  They  began 
on  Monday  evening  and  closed  on  Friday  evening.  Six  hours  each 
day  were  given  to  instruction  in  methods  of  teaching  and  the  five 
evenings  were  devoted  to  public  lectures  on  correlated  topics,  chief  of 
which  at  this  early  time  were  the  nature  and  need  of  a  normal  school. 

'The  sentimeut  in  fsvor  of  tbe  establishment  of  a  State  normal  school  exhibited 
itself  very  early  in  New  Jersey.  In  1825  Rev.  Philip  Liudsley,  D.  D.,  of  Princeton 
College,  said:  "Our  country  needs  seminaries  purposely  to  train  up  teachers.  *  *  * 
Tbe  great  mass  of  our  teachers  are  mere  adventurers.''  Aud  iu  1828  Dr.  John 
MacLean,  iu  tbe  lecture  above  referred  to,  recommended  "the  establishment  of  an 
iustitutiou  to  educate  young  meu  for  the  business  of  teaching." 


Chapter  IV. 

THE  PERFECTED  SYSTEM. 


After  the  establishment  of  the  State  Normal  School  the  i>rogress  of 
the  system  of  public  instruction  was  notably  accelerated.  Constant 
amendments  were  made  in  the  school  law,  until  in  1867  an  epoch- 
making  act '  was  passed,  which  placed  the  Xew  Jersey  public  schools 
among  the  most  favored  of  the  nation.  By  this  law  the  entire  system 
of  administration  was  revised  and  placed  upon  a  sound  and  i^ractical 
basis.  The  functions  of  the  State  board  of  education,  the  State  suj^er- 
intendent,  the  county  superintendents,  district  and  township  trustees, 
and  city  boards  of  education  were  defined  and  fixed.  A  liberal  plan 
for  the  support  of  public  schools,  combining  State  and  local  contribu- 
tions, was  established.  A  method  was  initiated  for  maintaining  and 
increasing  the  State  educational  funds  and  rendering  them  adequate 
to  the  demands  which  would  be  made  upon  them.  Finally,  provision 
was  made  for  the  continued  maintenance  of  the  normal  and  model 
schools,  and  for  the  examination  and  licensure  of  teachers. 

Without  dwelling  on  the  successive  improvements  and  modifications 
which  have  been  made  in  the  details  of  this  law,  it  will  be  sufticient  to 
state  in  a  summary  manner  the  present  condition  of  the  system  of 
public  education  in  the  State.  We  will  follow  the  arrangement  given 
in  the  volume  of  the  New  Jersey  school  laws  prepared  by  the  State 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  and  published  in  1897. 

The  State  constitution,  adopted  in  1814  and  amended  in  1873,  pro- 
vides that  "  the  State  fund  for  the  support  of  free  schools  shall  remain 
a  perpetual  fund,  and  it  shall  not  be  competent  for  the  legislature  to 
borrow,  appropriate,  or  use  any  part  of  it  for  any  other  purpose,-"  and 
that  the  legislature  shall  suitably  provide  for  the  maintenance  and 
support  of  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  free  public  schools  for 
the  instruction  of  all  the  children  in  the  State  between  the  ages  of  5 
and  18  years. 

The  supervision  and  control  of  public  instruction  are  vested  in  a 
board  of  education,  to  consist  of  sixteen  members  appointed  b}"  the 
governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate,  two  from  each 
congressional  district,  of  different  political  parties.    This  board  receives 

'  This  act  was  maiuly  prepared  by  Hon.  E,  A.  Apgar,  State  siiperintendeut. 
40 


THE    PERFECTED    SYSTEM    OF    EDUCATION.  41 

no  compensation,  but  the  necessary  expenses  of  its  members  are  paid. 
It  is  required  to  make  an  annual  report  to  the  legislature. 

The  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction  is  appointed  by  the 
governor  and  senate  for  a  term  of  three  years  at  a  salary  of  83,000. 
He  is  ex  officio  secretary  of  the  board  of  education,  and  required  to 
carry  into  effect  its  directions.  He  is  the  general  adviser  of  the  county 
superintendents.  Under  the  direction  of  the  board  of  education  he 
apportions  to  the  several  counties  their  sharesof  the  State  school  moneys. 
He  decides,  subject  to  appeal  to  the  board  of  education,  and  without 
cost,  all  controversies  and  disputes  arising  under  school  laws.  He  is 
required  to  keep  on  hand  and  furnish  to  those  desiring  his  advice  and 
assistance  plans  for  schoolhouses  and  sam[)les  of  apparatus  for  heating 
and  ventilating.  He  makes  to  the  State  board  of  education  an  annual 
report  of  the  duties  performed  by  him  and  of  the  condition  of  education 
in  the  State. 

County  superintendents  are  appointed  by  the  State  board  of  educa- 
tion for  the  several  counties.  Their  term  of  oflQce  is  for  three  years, 
and  their  salary  is  at  the  rate  of  12i  cents  for  each  child  in  the  county 
of  school  age,  provided  that  in  no  case  it  shall  be  less  than  8800  nor 
more  than  $1,300.  Wherever  there  is  within  the  county  a  city  having 
a  superintendent  of  schools,  such  city  is  not  under  the  control  of  the 
county  superintendent.  The  county  superintendent  receives  also  a 
sum,  not  to  exceed  $300,  for  his  expenses  incurred  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties.  He  has  authority  to  examine  and  license  teachers  for 
his  county  and  to  perform  other  duties  of  supervision  and  superin- 
tendence in  accordance  with  the  regulations  made  by  the  State  board 
of  education.  In  all  controversies  arising  under  the  school  law  the 
advice  and  opinion  of  the  county  superintendent  are  first  sought,  and 
from  him  an  appeal  may  be  made  to  the  State  superintendent.  The 
county  superintendent  is  required  to  make  an  annual  report  to  the 
State  superintendent. 

By  an  act  passed  in  1804  all  the  districts  included  in  each  township 
were  consolidated  into  one  school  district.  The  trustees  of  the  consoli- 
dated district  are  to  consist  of  nine,  live,  or  three  members,  according 
to  the  choice  of  the  district. 

When  in  any  district  there  are  children  living  too  remote  from  the 
schoolhouse,  such  district  may  order  to  be  raised  by  a  special  tax  an 
amount  of  money  sufficient  to  enable  the  board  of  education  to  trans- 
port such  children  to  and  from  the  school.  A  suitable  and  commodious 
schoolhouse,  with  convenient  accessories,  is  to  be  provided :  and  in  case 
the  house  is  more  than  two  stories  high  it  must  be  provided  with  fire 
escaites. 

Text-books  and  school  supplies  have,  since  1894,  been  furnished  free 
of  cost  to  the  scholars.  A  separate  school  tax  is  raised  in  each  locality 
for  the  purchase  of  text-books. 

The  school  fund,  which  was  begun  in  1810,  has  gradually  grown  in 
propoi-tions.     In  the  constitutional  convention  of  1844  Hon.  .Tames 


42  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Parker,  of  Perth  Amboy,  who  has  been  called  the  father  of  the  school 
fuud,  i^rocured  the  iusertion  of  the  section  quoted  above.  The  fund  as 
given  in  the  comptroller's  report  (p.  73)  for  1897  amounted  to  $3,677,- 
247.07  4-  $71,598.37  due  to  fund.  This  fund  is  placed  in  the  control  of 
trustees,  consisting  of  the  governor,  the  president  of  the  senate,  the 
speaker  of  the  house  of  assembly,  the  secretai-y  of  state,  the  comi)- 
troller  and  the  treasurer,  and  their  successors  in  office.  It  is  made  the 
duty  of  these  trustees  to  keep  the  money  belonging  to  the  fuud  safely 
invested  and  to  distribute  the  income  thereof  according  to  law.  By  a 
law  enacted  in  1871  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  and  rentals  of  the  lands 
lying  under  water  and  which  have  been  judicially  determined  to  belong 
to  the  State,  have  been  turned  over  to  the  school  fund.  By  the  annual 
increments  resulting  from  this  source  the  school  fuud  has  largely  and 
continuouwsly  increased.  The  legal  apj)ropriatious  to  be  i»aid  from  the 
school  fund  amount  to  $200,000  annually. 

In  addition  to  the  income  from  the  school  fund  the  State  annually 
raises  by  tax  a  sum  equal  to  $5  for  each  child  in  the  State  between  the 
ages  of  5  and  18  years.'  Of  this  sum — which  in  1890  amounted  to 
$2,124,795 — 90  i^er  cent  is  distributed,  together  with  income  of  the  school 
fund,  among  the  several  counties  of  the  State  in  proportion  to  their 
taxable  property.  The  county  superintendents  in  turn  api)ortiou  the 
sums  assigned  to  their  several  counties  among  the  districts  of  the 
county.  First  they  assign  to  each  district  the  sum  of  $200  for  every 
teacher  employed,  then  what  remains  they  distribute  among  the  dis- 
tricts in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children  in  each. 

Besides  the  money  received  from  the  State,  as  above  described,  the 
districts  are  authorized  to  raise  by  tax  determined  by  tlie  legal  voters 
additional  moneys  for  various  puri)oses,  such  as  the  purchase  of  laud 
for  schoolhouses,  the  building  and  repair  of  schoolhouses,  and  for  the 
current  expenses  of  the  schools  in  the  district. 

The  school  law  provides  that  whenever  a  school  raises  the  sum  of 
$20  for  establishing  a  school  library  or  to  procure  i^hilosophical  and 
chemical  apparatus,  a  like  sum  is  to  be  paid  to  it  from  the  State  school 
fuud,  and  the  further  sum  of  $10  whenever  the  school  shall  in  auy  sub- 
sequent year  raise  the  sum  of  $10.  Where  there  is  more  than  one 
school  in  a  district  it  is  competent  to  consolidate  the  libraries  in  one 
school,  and  in  that  case  the  consolidated  library  may  receive  from 
the  State  such  sums  as  have  been  raised  in  the  several  schools.  In 
each  county,  also,  whenever  there  has  been  raised  the  sum  of  $100  for 
a  library  of  pedagogical  books,  the  State  pays  toward  such  object  a 
like  sum,  and  afterwards  the  State  continues  to  pay  the  further  sum  of 
$50  annually  whenever  a  like  sum  has  been  raised  in  any  county. 

'  The  school  age  is  fixed  by  law  between  5  and  18  years  of  age — that  is,  between 
the  dates  when  the  child  is  full  5  years  old  and  when  it  becomes  18  years  old.  By  a 
more  recent  law  persons  between  the  ages  of  18  and  20  may  attend  the  public  schools 
without  charge;  but  such  persons  are  not  counted  in  making  the  school  census. 


THE    PERFECTED    SYSTEM    OF    EDUCATIOX.  43 

Compulsory  education  has  been  enacted  in  tbe  State  to  the  extent  ot 
requiring-  that  all  children  between  the  ages  of  7  and  12  years  shall  be 
sent  to  school  at  least  twenty  weeks  in  each  year,  of  which  at  least 
eight  weeks  shall  be  consecutive.  The  i)enalty  inflicted  on  the  parent 
for  disregard  of  this  requirement  is  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $10  nor 
more  than  $25  for  each  offense,  or  imprisonment  not  less  than  one 
month  nor  more  than  three  months.  Owing-  to  the  want  of  suitable 
provisions  for  enforcing  this  law,  it  is,  however,  largely  a  dead  letter. 

Industrial  education  is  encouraged  in  the  State  by  a  provision  that 
there  shall  be  contributed  out  of  the  school  fund  a  sum  equal  to  that 
raised  by  any  ijarticular  locality  for  the  establishment  of  a  school  for 
industrial  education,  provided  that  the  locality  shall  raise  not  less 
than  $3,000,  and  j^rovided  further  that  the  contribution  of  the  State  to 
any  locality  in  any  year  shall  not  be  more  than  $5,000.  Owing  to  this 
system  of  encouragement,  many  localities  of  the  State  have  already 
begun  manual-training;-  departments  in  their  schools,  and  these  are 
spoken  of  in  the  State  and  local  reports  with  great  satisfaction  and 
promise.  During  the  year  1892-93  the  whole  amount  appropriated  by 
the  State  for  this  purpose  was  $21,348.55.  The  amount  appropriated 
in  1895-90  was  $31,80-1.75.  The  State  superintendent  in  his  report  for 
1893,  in  summing  up  the  department's  experience  in  the  matter  of 
manual  training,  says : 

It  is  my  conviction,  after  much  careful  observation  of  the  results  obtained,  that 
manual  training  is  a  legitimate  and  invaluable  addition  to  the  common-school  cur- 
riculum, and  this  on  social,  political,  and  economic  grounds.  The  individual  is  made 
hajipier,  society  is  benefited,  the  .State  is  made  more  secure,  aud  the  wealth  of  all 
is  increased  liy  shaping  to  some  extent  the  instruction  of  the  schools  along  industrial 
lines.' 

Under  an  act  passed  by  Congress  in  1862  a  grant  of  United  States 
laud  was  made  to  the  several  States  for  the  establishment  of  colleges 
of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  The  legislature  in  accepting- 
this  gift  appointed  the  Rutgers  Scientific  School,  the  scientific  depart- 
ment of  Rutgers  College,  as  the  State  college  for  the  benefit  of  agri- 
culture and  mechanic  arts,  and  authorized  it  to  receive  on  behalf  of  the 
State  the  benefactions  bestowed  by  the  United  States  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts. 
Since  that  time  the  trustees  of  Rutgers  College  have  maintained. a 
department  for  this  jjurpose,  and  have  also  established  an  experiment 
station,  supported  by  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of  advancing 
the  sciences  related  to  agriculture.  Bulletins  are  issued  at  short  peri- 
ods from  these  experiment  stations  relating  to  questions  of  practical 
importance  and  are  furnished  free  to  the  farmers  of  the  State.  An 
extensive  farm  is  conducted  in  connection  with  the  agricultural  college, 
where  experiments  are  tried  upon  cattle,  crops,  and  manures,  and  the 
results  published  in  the  bulletins  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 


'  Report  of  Hon.  Addison  B.  Poland,  State  superintendent  of  education,  1893,  p.  41. 


44  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

By  an  act  passed  by  Congress  in  1890  a  further  appropriation  was 
made  from  tlie  sale  of  the  public  lands  of  $15,000  annually  to  each  of 
the  State  agricultural  colleges.  This  annual  api)ropriation  was  fixed 
to  increase  by  $1,000  annually  until  it  should  reach  the  sum  of  $25,000, 
at  which  point  it  should  remain  thereafter. 

Tbe  legislature  of  New  Jersey  in  1800,  in  order  to  distribute  the  ben- 
efits of  this  industrial  education  among  the  jjeople  of  the  State,  passed 
a  law  establishing  free  scholarships  in  the  State  college.  This  law  pro- 
vided that  each  year  there  should  be  admitted  into  tlie  State  college 
one  scholar  from  each  assembly  district  of  the  State  to  be  educated 
during  a  term  of  four  years.  The  students  so  admitted  are  selected  by 
a  competitive  examination  to  be  held  under  the  direction  of  the  county 
superintendent  of  education.  The  State  was  directed  to  pay  for  the 
education  of  such  students  the  same  sum  as  the  college  received  for 
like  students,  viz,  $75  per  annum.  Although  the  college  has  according 
to  this  law  continued  to  receive  and  educate  the  students  selected  by 
these  competitive  examinations,  the  financial  officers  of  the  State  have 
not  made  the  jjayments  as  required.  The  reason  assigned  is  that  the 
appropriation  for  the  amounts  to  be  paid  to  the  college  was  directed  to 
be  taken  from  the  school  fund  after  other  stipulated  appropriations  had 
been  paid.  It  has  been  claimed  that  no  surplus  has  remained,  after 
such  payments  were  made,  for  the  purpose  designated. 

The  chief  means  by  which  good  schools  can  be  maintained  in  a  State 
consist  in  the  adequate  training  of  teachers  and  in  a  system  of  exami- 
nation and  licensure  which  will  keep  out  of  the  schools  those  teachers 
who  are  unfit.  In  the  early  history  of  New  Jersey  schools  the  choice 
of  schoolmasters  was  left  entirely  to  the  trustees  of  the  districts,  who 
were  generally  unable  to  apply  any  sufiQcient  test  as  to  scholarship 
and  who  were  in  too  many  cases  ready  to  accept  for  the  service  the 
candidate  who  would  undertake  it  at  the  cheapest  rate.  This  system 
prevailed  not  only  in  New  Jersey,  but  in  all  the  neighboring  States, 
down  to  the  foundation  of  normal  schools  and  the  general  awakening 
upon  the  subject  of  public  education  which  took  place  about  the 
middle  of  the  present  century. 

STATE   NORMAL   SCHOOL. 

The  State  Normal  School,  as  has  been  stated,  was  established  by  a 
law  passed  in  1855.  Its  location  was  fixed  at  Trenton.  It  was  placed 
under  a  board  of  trustees  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  with  the 
confirmation  of  the  senate.  An  annual  appropriation  of  $10,000  was 
given  for  its  support.  The  trustees  apr)ointed  as  principal  Prof.  Wil- 
liam F.  Phelps,  who  at  that  time  was  principal  of  the  experimental 
school  in  the  New  York  State  Normal  School  at  Albany.  He  retained 
this  position  till  1865,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  a  similar  place  in 
Minnesota.  It  was  Principal  Phelps's  plan  to  have  all  subjects  of  study 
necessary  to  the  future  teacher  taught  in  a  preparatory  school,  and  to 


THE    PERFECTED    SYSTEM    OF    EDUCATION.  45 

restrict  the  normal  school  to  its  legitimate  work  of  trainiug  the  students 
iu  methods  of  instruction.  There  was  therefore  organized  in  connection 
with  the  normal  school  a  model  school  "where  the  i)ui)ils  of  the  normal 
school  should  have  an  opportunity  to  observe  and  practice  approved 
modes  of  instruction  and  discipline,  and  in  which  jjupils  may  be  pre- 
pared for  the  normal  school." 

The  school  was  opened  in  March,  1850,  in  buildings  which  had  been 
prepared  for  it  by  enterprising  citizens  of  Trenton.  The  model  school 
was  put  in  the  charge  of  David  Cole,  then  i^rincipal  of  the  Trenton 
Academj^,  which  at  this  time  was  merged  in  the  model  school  and 
ceased  to  exist.  During  this  year  also  Mr.  Paul  Farnum,  of  Beverly, 
in  Burlington  County,  conveyed  to  the  State  the  Farnum  school  prop- 
erty, to  be  used  in  connection  with  the  normal  school  as  an  auxiliary 
l)reparatory  school.  With  it  he  gave  also  an  endowment,  in  grounds, 
buildings,  and  money,  amounting  to  about  $70,000. 

The  normal  school  has  from  the  beginning  pursued  a  most  successful 
career.  The  successive  principals  have  been  as  follows:  William  F. 
Phelps,  A.  ]M.,  1855  to  1805;  John  S.  Hart,  LL.  D.,  1805  to  1871;  Lewis 
M.  Johnson,  A.  M.,  1871  to  187G;  Washington  Hasbrouck,  Ph.  D.,  1876 
to  1889;  James  M.  Green,  Ph.  D.,  1889  to  the  present. 

The  buildings  now  belonging  to  the  normal  and  model  schools  are  the 
following:  (1)  A  building  used  by  the  normal  school;  (2)  a  building 
used  by  the  model  school;  (3)  a  building  for  the  use  of  the  students  of 
the  normal  school  as  a  place  for  lodging  and  boarding. 

In  the  normal  school  no  tuition  fee  is  charged  to  students  who  i^romise 
to  become  teachers  in  the  public  schools  of  the  State.  If  they  do  not 
so  promise  they  are  required  to  pay  for  their  instruction  the  sum  of  $50 
a  quarter,  which  covers  not  only  their  tuition  and  books,  but  their 
board.  Their  promise  pledges  them  to  teach  for  a  period  of  at  least  two 
years,  otherwise  they  agree  to  refund  to  the  school  the  cost  of  their 
education.  In  case  they  intend  to  teach,  ladies  pay  $37.50  a  quarter 
and  $1  for  books,  and  gentlemen  $39  a  quarter  and  $1  for  books. 
These  charges  cover  all  expenses,  including  washing.  Day  pupils  pay 
as  charges  $12.50  if  not  intending  to  teach,  but  if  intending  to  teach 
$1  a  quarter.  In  the  model  school  day  impils  pay  by  the  quarter  sums 
varying  from  $6.50  iu  the  lowest  class  to  $14.50  in  the  high  school 
department.  In  the  Farnum  preparatory  school  tuition  fees  are  also 
charged,  which  go  toward  the  maintenance  of  the  school. 

For  admittance  to  the  lowest  class  of  the  normal  school  candidates 
must  be  prepared  to  sustain  an  examination  in  orthography,  reading, 
arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  and  United  States  history.  Candi- 
dates may  be  admitted  without  examinations  on  presenting  teachers' 
certificates  covering  the  required  subjects.  Candidates  holding  the 
diploma  of  approved  high  schools  (of  which  there  are  41)  are  admitted 
to  the  class  of  the  second  year  without  examination ;  that  is,  to  the  class 
I)ursuing  professional  studies. 


46  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  plans  of  study  may  be  stated  as  follows:  The  origiual  plan  of 
this  school  has  to  a  very  great  extent  been  continued — that  is,  the 
work  done  in  the  normal  department  is  chiefly  professional.  The  first 
of  the  three  years,  however,  is  taken  up  with  a  course  of  study  designed 
to  make  up  deficiencies  in  the  jireparation  of  those  who  have  entered. 
The  remaining  two  years  are  strictly  professional,  and  are  occupied  in 
going  over  the  subjects  of  study  with  the  purpose  of  showing  how  they 
may  be  most  naturally  and  efticieutly  taught. 

The  teachers  in  each  of  the  subjects  endeavor  to  develop  it  in  a 
logical  order,  having  reference  not  only  to  the  elements  of  the  subject, 
but  to  the  mental  powers  which  are  to  grasp  them.  In  the  model 
school  connected  with  the  normal  school,  and  also  in  the  city  schools 
of  Trenton,  the  normal  students  have  an  opportunity  of  observing  the 
methods  of  good  teaching  and  also  of  practicing  the  art  of  teaching 
under  adequate  supervision  and  instruction.  In  this  way  the  graduates 
of  the  normal  school  are  prepared  to  enter  upon  the  practical  duties  of 
their  profession,  not  as  inexperienced  experimenters,  but  to  a  certain 
extent  as  trained  and  expert  teachers. 

The  statistics  of  the  State  Normal  School  and  its  auxiliary  institu- 
tions may  be  given  from  the  annual  report  for  1896,  as  follows: 

State  Normal  and  Model  School. 

[President,  James  M.  Green,  Ph.D.] 

Teachers  in  the  normal  school 23 

Students  iu  the  normal  course 594' 

Graduates,  1895 149 

Volumes  in  library 4,  OCO 

Value  of  buildings  and  grounds $100,000 

Annual  appropriation $28,  000 

Teachers  in  the  model  school 25 

Students  in  the  model  school 591 

Graduates  in  1896 39 

Farnitm  Preparatory  School,  Beverly,  X.  J. 
[Principal,  James  R.  Dilks,  A.  M.] 

Instructors  of  secondary  grade 4 

Secondary  students 41 

Elementary  students 91 

Graduates,  1895 18 

Volumes  in  library 4,  000 

Value  of  grounds  and  buildings $22,  000 

Kg  person  is  allowed  to  teach  in  the  public  schools  of  the  State  with- 
out a  license  duly  obtained.  There  are  three  classes  of  licenses:  (1) 
State  certificates,  (2)  county  certificates,  and  (3)  certificates  granted  by 
city  boards  of  education.  State  certificates  are  granted  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  board  of  examiners,  consisting  of  the  State  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction  and  the  principal  of  the  State  Normal 
School.     The  graduates  of  the  normal  school  are  entitled  to  second- 


THE    PERFECTED    SYSTEM    OF    EDUCATION.  47 

grade  State  certificates  without  examination.  There  are  two  examina- 
tions each  year  for  State  certificates,  held  at  Trenton,  beginning  on  the 
first  Thursdays  of  June  and  December.  The  certificates  are  of  three 
grades.  For  the  first  the  candidate  must  be  25  years  of  age,  and  must 
be  able  to  show  five  years  of  successful  experience  in  teaching.  The 
certificate  is  for  life,  and  is  valid  in  any  county  in  the  State.  For  a 
second-grade  certificate  the  candidate  must  be  21  years  of  age,  and 
must  show  two  years  of  successful  experience  in  teaching.  Tlie  cer- 
tificate remains  in  force  ten  years  and  may  be  renewed  without  exam- 
ination. It  is  valid  in  any  county  of  the  State.  For  a  third-grade 
certificate  the  candidate  nuist  be  20  years  of  age.  The  certificate  is 
good  for  seven  years  in  any  county  of  the  State,  and  may  be  renewed 
without  examination.  A  college  diploma,  in  the  discretion  of  the  board 
of  examiners,  may  be  accepted  in  place  of  an  examination  upon  sub- 
jects covered  by  it.  The  State  board  may  also  indorse  the  diplomas 
and  certificates  of  another  State,  provided  the  other  State  reciprocates. 

Certificates,  good  for  schools  within  a  county,  are  granted  on  the 
recommendation  of  a  county  board  of  examiners,  consisting  of  the 
county  superintendent  and  persons  appointed  by  him.  They  hold  three 
stated  meetings  annually  for  the  examination  of  candidates,  viz,  in 
October,  in  February,  and  in  May.  The  certificates  are  of  three  grades, 
and  the  candidates  for  each  must  be,  respectively,  20,  19,  and  18  years 
of  age.  The  great  majority  of  the  teachers  in  the  schools  of  the  State 
hold  county  certificates. 

In  the  superintendent's  report  for  1893  it  is  stated  that  there  were 
held  by  the  teachers  of  the  State  2,819  certificates,  out  of  which  were 
State  certificates  as  follows:  185  first  grade,  121  second  grade,  and  132 
third  grade;  in  all,  438.  There  were  520  county  certificates,  as  follows: 
215  first  grade,  213  second  grade,  and  92  third  grade.  There  were  also 
1,789  certificates  issued  by  city  boards  of  education,  and  about  72  cer- 
tificates for  special  teachers,  such  as  kindergarten,  French,  German, 
and  drawing. 

There  are  several  other  provisions  in  the  New  Jersey  school  system 
which  it  is  proper  to  mention,  at  least  in  a  summary  manner: 

1.  At  all  meetings  for  school  business  women  are  authorized  to  vote 
upon  all  questions  except  for  the  choice  of  members  of  the  boards  of 
education.  However,  they  are  eligible  as  members  of  these  boards, 
even  though  the  law  does  not  authorize  them  to  vote  for  themselves  or 
for  anyone  else. 

2.  The  law  directs  that  on  the  last  Friday  preceding  certain  specified 
holidays,  exercises  shall  be  held  appropriate  to  each.  These  days  are: 
Arbor  Day,  devoted  to  the  planting  of  trees;  Decoration  Day,  devoted 
to  decorating  the  graves  of  the  patriot  dead;  Washington's  Birthday, 
the  Fourth  of  July,  and  Thanksgiving  Day. 

3.  A  law  was  passed  in  1890  which  was  designed  to  provide  an 
annuity  for  retired  teachers  of  the  public  schools.    This  law  provides 


48  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

that  the  State  superiuteudent  of  public  schools,  the  members  of  the 
State  board  of  education,  and  two  representatives  of  the  State  Teach- 
ers' Association,  chosen  at  its  annual  meeting,  shall  act  as  a  board  of 
trustees  of  the  teachers'  retirement  fund,  also  that  the  State  treasurer 
shall,  ex  officio,  be  the  treasurer  of  this  fund;  that  the  fund  shall  con- 
sist of  the  following"  parts,  namely:  First,  of  a  contribution  of  1  per 
centum  of  their  salaries  from  teachers  of  public  schools  who  give  notice 
that  they  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  the  act;  second, 
all  moneys  and  property  received  by  donation,  legacy,  gift,  bequest,  or 
otherwise  for  or  on  account  of  said  fund;  third,  all  other  increments 
which  may  legally  be  devised  for  the  increase  of  said  fund.  In  order 
that  any  teacher  may  become  admissible  to  the  provisions  of  this  law 
he  nuist  give  notice  of  such  wish  to  his  supervisory  board,  which  there- 
upon retains  1  per  centum  of  his  salary  and  pays  it  over  to  the  treasurer 
of  the  retirement  fund. 

The  benefits  of  this  fund  are  reserved  to  those  teachers  who  have 
taught  m  the  public  schools  for  not  less  than  twenty  years  and  shall 
have  become  incapacitated  for  their  duties,  and  shall  have  paid  in  con- 
tributions to  said  fund  a  sum  equal  to  20  per  centum  of  their  annual 
saUiries. 

When  the  fund  has  grown  so  as  to  authorize  it,  each  teacher  who 
has  been  retired  is  to  receive  an  annuity  thereafter  equal  to  one-half 
of  the  average  salary  received  during  the  preceding  five  years;  pro- 
vided that  no  annuity  granted  under  this  law  shall  be  less  than  $200, 
nor  more  than  SGOO.  It  is  also  provided  that  any  teacher  who  has  been 
a  contributing  member  of  this  fund  for  at  least  five  years  shall  receive 
one-half  the  sum  contributed  to  said  fund. 

It  is  not  yet  certain  how  the  scheme  of  this  law  will  work.  The 
sources  of  income  for  this  fund  seem  inadequate;  and  few  teachers  will 
be  willing  to  become  contributors  to  the  fund  without  the  prospect  of 
receiving  from  it  advantages  equal  to  those  promised  when  the  scheme 
is  in  full  operation.  If  the  State  were  to  become  a  party  to  the  stipu. 
lations,  and  out  of  the  public  educational  funds  contribute  to  the  retire- 
ment fund,  there  would  then  be  a  fair  prospect  of  initiating  a  proinisi)ig 
method  of  pensioning  teachers. 

The  following  statement  for  Kovember  30,  1897,  is  given: 

Amount  received  and  entered  in  the  fund $15,  266.  48 

Amount  received  awaiting  details 952.88 

Total  received 16,  219.  36 

Amount  expended 1,568.05 

Balance  on  hand 14,  651.  31 

Numljer  of  contributing  members 2,  130 

Number  of  annuitants 5 

Amount  of  annul  tics,  per  year $1.  375 

Number  of  applications  under  consideration 4 

4.  The  school  law  forbids  the  employment  of  children  in  factories — 
boys  under  12  and  girls  under  14  years  of  age. 


THE    PERFECTED    SYSTEM    OF    EDUCATION.  49 

5.  For  the  purpose  of  stimalatiug-  patriotic  feeliugs  in  tlie  luiiids  of 
tlie  cbildreu  it  is  required  by  law  tliat  there  shall  be  provided  for  every 
schoolhouse  a  Hag,  which  shall  be  kept  unfurled  during  the  sessions  of 
the  school. 

0.  Teachers'  institutes  continue  to  be  held  in  almost  every  county  of 
the  State.  The  sum  of  $100  is  appropriated  from  the  State  funds  to 
each  institute,  and  the  teachers  of  the  county  are  by  law  excused  from 
their  schools  antl  are  required  to  attend. 

Fhiaiitial  t<tatement,  1S95. 

Balauce  ou  hand  froui  last  year $648, 191.  48 

Received  from — 

Interest  ou  peruiaueut  fuuds 127,  236.  35 

State  taxes 2,119,460.00 

Local  taxes - 2.  261,  513. 20 

Sale  of  bonds 320,  701.  25 

All  other  sources 101,  564.  53 

Total  receipts .5,578.666.81 

Expended  for — 

Sites,  Ijuildings,  etc 1,  021,  680.  91 

Salaries  of  superintendents  and  teachers 2,  898,  942. 46 

Bonded  indebtedness  paid 340,  946.  28 

All  other  purposes 641,  007.  69 

Total  expenditures 4,902,595.34 

Amount  of  fuuds  invested  and  yielding  reveuue 3,  498,  490.  77 

20687— Xo.  23 4 


Chapter   V. 

NOTES  ON   EARLY  TEXT-BOOKS. 


New  Jersey  had  uo  large  publishing  center  within  its  borders.  It 
depended  coiuuiercially  for  the  supply  of  its  school  books,  as  for  most 
other  things,  upon  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  upon  Boston.  It  may  therefore  be  inferred  that  in  the  use  of 
books  for  its  schools  and  families  the  State  followed  the  example  of  its 
more  populous  and  better  provided  neighbors.  The  books  that  were 
popular  in  New  England,  New  York,  and  Penus^'lvania  may  in  like 
manner  be  set  down  as  the  current  school  books  in  the  little  interme- 
diate State. 

Mr.  George  A.  Plimpton,  of  New  York  City,  whose  collection  of  early 
text-books  is  perhaps  unsurpassed,  has  furnished  me  and  ])ermits  me 
to  use  an  account  which  I  here  insert  in  his  own  words. 

EARLY   TEXT-BOOKS   IN  NE^V   JERSEY. 

By  George  A.  Plimpton. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  Revolutiou  the  text-books  used  iu  the  common  sohools  of 
New  Jersey  were  xery  limited. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  subject  of  reading.  It  is  quite  possible  that  some  of  the 
early  settlers  may  have  brought  with  them  copies  of  the  hornbook — the  first  thing 
which  was  put  into  the  hands  of  children  to  teach  them  the  alphabet.  The  horn- 
book was  used  extensively  in  New  England  and  the  South,  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  in  New  .Jersey  also.  This  was  ijrobably  followed  by  the  English  School- 
master, edited  by  Edward  Coote.  This,  commencing  with  the  alphabet,  takes  up 
vowel  sounds,  has  several  chapters  on  syllables,  contains  the  Catechism  and  the 
Bible.  This  was  first  published  in  1692.  After  this  the  different  editions  of  the 
New  England  Primer  were  used  all  through  New  .Jersey,  and  then  Dilworth's  Spell- 
ing Book.  Dil worth  was  quite  a  prolific  author,  and  his  spelling  book  and  arith- 
metics were  very  largely  imported  ))eforc  the  Revolutionary  war.  Anthony  Benezet 
published  the  Pennsylvania  Spelling  Book  in  1782  in  Providence,  and  a  book  called 
the  Youth's  Instructor  in  the  English  Tongue,  or  the  Art  of  Spelling,  had  appeared 
in  Boston  in  1770,  and  was  used  more  or  less  in  New  Jersey.  In  1783  Noah  Webster 
brought  out  his  spelling  book,  and  subsequently  other  reading  books,  which  were 
forniany  years  widely  used,  supplanting  Dilworth  and  the  primers.  At  tlie  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  century  there  seems  to  have  been  great  activity  in  the  pub- 
lishing of  reading  books.  Caleb  Bingham  brought  out  a  whole  series,  and  others 
which  appeared  at  this  time  were  the  Youth's  Preceptor,  by  R.  K.,  of  Newcastle;  the 
Child's  Assistant,  by  Samuel  Temple;  the  Young  Child's  A-B-C  Book,  by  Samuel 
Wood  (New  York,  1806);  the  Franklin  Primer  (1811);  the  American  Primer  (Phila- 
delphia, 1813) ;  the  New  England  Primer  Improved  (Philadelphia,  1818) ;  the  Child's 
50 


THE    HORN-BOOK. 


NOTES  ON  EAKLY  TEXT-BOOKS.  51 

Coiupauiou,  by  Caleb  Biugham  (1819);  the  First  Book  for  Chiklreu,  by  Lindley 
Murray  (Philadelphia,  1819).  About  1820  a  whole  series  of  English  readers  by 
Lindley  Murray  appeared,  and  in  1825  John  Pierpont  published  the  American  First 
Class  Book.  In  1836  Cobb's  juvenile  readers  came  out,  and  later  the  Russell  readers 
were  published  in  New  York.  In  1840  a  series  of  readers  by  C.W.  Sanders  appeared, 
the  tirst  to  follow  the  present  system  of  grading — first,  second,  third,  and  fourth. 
Marcius -Wilson,  of  Vineland,  published  a  series  of  readers  since  the  war  which  were 
quite  widely  used. 

The  arithmetics  used  in  New  Jersey  previous  to  the  Revolution  were  all  Englisli 
books.  Edward  Cocker's  Arithmetic  was  used  quite  extensively  in  New  Jersey,  and 
this  was  followed  by  Thomas  Dilwortli's,  of  which  different  editions  were  published 
in  Hartford,  New  London,  and  New  York.  The  tirst  arithmetic  published  in  this 
country,  however,  was  by  Nicholas  Pike,  and  it  appeared  in  1788.  Nathan  Daboll, 
of  New  London,  Conn.,  in  1799,  wrote  his  Schoolmaster's  Assistant,  which  had  a  large 
sale  for  many  years. 

Daniel  Adams,  of  Keene,  N.  H.,  in  1826  published  a  series  of  arithmetics.  Michael 
Walsh's  System  of  Mercantile  Arithmetic  had  come  out  in  1804.  Jacob  \Villets's 
Scholar's  Arithmetic,  published  in  Poughkeepsie  in  1822,  was  doubtless  more  or  less 
used  in  New  Jersey,  as  was  Colburn's  First  Lessons  in  Arithmetic,  issued  in  1826. 
Roswell  C.  Smith's  Practical  Arithmetic  came  out  in  1829.  Stephen  Pike's  Arithme- 
tic was  published  in  1852,  .John  F.  Stoddard's  in  1853,  Dodd's  High  School  Arith- 
metic in  18.54,  and  a  little  later  Robinson's  arithmetics,  which  were  used  until  the 
time  of  the  civil  war  and  even  to  the  present  day. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution  geography  was  not  taught  in  New  Jersey.  The 
first  American  geography  was  that  of  Jedediah  Morse,  which  was  published  in  1791. 
Benjamin  Workman,  in  Philadelphia,  brought  out  the  Elements  of  Geography  in 
1803.  In  1808  Elijah  Parrish,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  brought  out  his  Universal 
Geography,  and  in  1817  Nathaniel  Dwight,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  published  a  book 
also  called  the  Universal  Geography.  J.  E.  Worcester,  of  Boston,  brought  out  his 
Elements  of  Geography  in  1819,  and  the  Rudiments  of  Geography,  by  W.  C.  Wood- 
bridge,  api)eared  in  1822.  Peter  Parley's  geographies,  which  came  out  in  1831,  were 
used  extensively.  Mitchell's  geographies  were  published  in  1840,  and  Roswell  C. 
Smith's  First  Book  in  Geography  was  brought  out  ten  years  later.  In  1853  Mon- 
teith's  Manual  of  Geography  appeared,  and  in  1860  Olney's.  These  were  the  princi- 
pal geographies  used  in  New  Jersey. 

In  the  early  days  no  text-books  on  penmanship  were  used  by  the  pupils;  the 
teacher  had  a  set  copy  from  which  the  pupils  worked.  All  the  books  on  writing 
used  by  the  teachers  in  New  Jersey  were  English,  one  of  the  principal  ones  being 
that  by  Edward  Cocker  until  1809,  when  James  Carver,  of  Philadelphia,  brought 
out  his  book,  the  New  and  Easy  Introduction  to  Analytical  Penmanshi}).  In  1813  a 
book  on  the  Art  of  Writing,  by  John  Jenkins,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  appeared,  and  in 
1832  Adam  W.  Rapp,  of  Philadelphia,  brought  out  his  Complete  System  of  Scientific 
Penmanship.  This  method  of  teacliingpenmanship  continued  until  about  1850,  when 
the  first  of  our  presefat  system  of  copy  books  for  the  pupils  appeared. 

English  grammar  was  studied  very  little  in  the  schools  of  New  Jersey  before  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Whatever  text-books  were  used  were  English.  In  1782  Albert 
Ross,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  published  what  he  called  the  American  Grammar,  and  in 
1791  the  First  Principles  of  English  Grammar  was  published  by  Joseph  Hutchins. 
Benjamin  Dearborn,  of  Boston,  brought  out  his  Columbian  Grammar  in  1792,  and  in 
180""  +he  Plain  and  Concise  Grammar,  by  William  Woodbridge,  was  published.  Noah 
Webster's  Institutes  of  English  Grammar  was  used  during  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century,  and  dift'erent  editions  of  Lindley  Murray's  English  Grammar  were  published 
until  1840  or  1850.  In  1823  Goold  Brown's  First  Lines  of  English  Grammar  was  pub- 
lished, and  then  the  Institutes  of  English  Grammar.  These  books  are  used  to-day  in 
New  Jersey. 


52  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

I  have  uo  expectation  iu  this  chapter  of  giving  anything-  like  a  com- 
plete history  of  the  succession  of  books  used  in  the  schools  of  Xew 
Jersey.  The  utmost  of  my  hoi)es  is  to  supply  such  information  as  I  can 
obtain,  in  order  that  at  some  future  time  the  material  for  such  a  history 
may  be  more  abundant  and  more  available  than  now. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Thompson,  who  was  so  conspicuously  active  and  useful  at 
the  time  of  the  organization  of  public  education  in  Xew  Jersey,  has  fur- 
nished me  with  a  valuable  memorandum  concerning  certain  text-books 
in  the  schools  of  the  last  century.  The  memorandum  was  prepared  in 
connection  with  copies  of  these  books  which  he  presented  to  the  library 
of  Eutgers  College. 

TEXT-BOOKS   IN    THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY. 

By  Dr.  J.  B.  Thompson. 

At  the  begiuiiiug  of  the  last  century  schoolmasters  were  chiefly  dependent  upon 
memory  for  their  means  of  instruction ;  though  for  arithmetic  especially  they  usually 
had  their  own  mauu8cri]>t  "cyphering  books,"  from  which  they  dictated  problems 
and  their  solution  to  their  pupils,  each  of  whom  made  in  turn  his  own  ciphering 
book  which  he  carefully  preserved  for  reference  and  use  in  future  years. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  however,  books  were  printed  containing  a 
resume  of  the  tojdcs  usually  taught  in  schools,  and  of  other  things  necessary  for  a 
teacher  to  know,  giving  fuller  information  than  could  be  treasured  up  in  the  memory 
and  in  memorandum  books. 

One  of  these,  "The  Instructor,  *  *  ^  containing  spelling,  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic,  bookkeeping,  mensuration,  gauging,  the  art  of  dialling  and  how  to 
erect  and  fix  dials,  dyeing,  coloring,  gardening,  how  to  pickle  and  preserve,  family 
medicine,  geography,  astronomy,  and  also  some  useful  interest  tables."'  It  was 
compiled  by  George  Fisher,  Accomptant.  A  copy  of  the  fourteenth  edition,  cor- 
rected and  imjDroved  (12mo,  pp.  396),  used  in  New  Jersey,  is  before  me.  It  was  2>rinted 
in  London  in  1757,  and  contains  minute  directions  how  to  make  a  goose  quill  into  a 
pen,  with  a  statement  of  the  implements  necessary  thereto.  There  are  a  dozen  pages 
of  apothegms  for  the  teacher  to  write  in  script  hand  for  imitation  by  the  pupils, 
directions  for  ink  making,  etc.  Half  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  arithmetic,  to  which 
more  time  was  given  in  that  early  day  than  to  all  other  topics  combined.  The 
frontispiece  is  the  picture  of  a  school  with  the  schoolmaster  in  gown  and  slippers  and 
the  boys  in  the  garb  now  called  "  continental.'"  The  shelves  are  occupied  by  globes 
and  by  books  labeled,  "Ms.  accompts.  Navigation,  Architecture,  Farming,'' etc., 
while  "Trade"  and  "History"  are  on  the  floor,  with  a  dial  and  drawing  instru- 
ments, near  a  mounted  telescope,  etc. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  century  this  "  Instructor  or  Young  Man's  Best  Companion" 
gave  place  to  a  book  devoted  entirely  to  arithmetic,  designated  as  "The  School- 
master's Assistant."  It  was  by  Thomas  Dilworth,  author  of  the  New  Guide  to  the 
English  Tongue,  Young  Bookkeeper's  Assistant,  etc.,  and  designated  Schoolmaster 
iu  AVapping.  He  was  a  very  worthy  schoolmaster,  .and  his  books  were  extremely 
useful  and  popular.  He  lived  until  the  year  1781,  having  issued  his  Schoolm.ister's 
Assistant  as  early  as  1743,  when  fifty  English  schoolmasters  recommended  it  "for 
the  speedy  improvement  of  youth  in  arithmetic,  as  the  only  one  for  that  purpose 
that  hath  yet  been  made  public."  To  it  was  prefixed  "The  preface  dedicatory  to 
the  revered  and  worthy  schoolmasters  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  an  essay 
on  the  education  of  youth,  humbly  off'ered  for  the  consideration  of  parents."     The 

'The  American  edition  of  this  book  was  printed  by  Benjamin  Franklin. 


NOTES  ON  EARLY  TEXT-BOOKS.  53 

copy  before  me  was  printed  iu  Philadelphia  in  1790,  and  to  the  names  of  the  fifty 
English  schoolmasters  is  added  that  of  ''Nathaniel  Wurteui,  schoolmaster  at  Phila- 
delphia." There  is  also  a  eulogy  by  William  Deane,  of  Halifax,  written  in  1766, 
and  a  better  one  by  Moses  Browne,  probably  the  Englishman  who,  from  being  a 
pen  cutter,  acquired  some  reputation  as  a  poet  and  writer.     He  says: 

"E'en  now  afresh,  immerged  iu  thy  pains 
For  future  times  thy  recent  task  remains ; 
By  double  motives  it  assures  to  please, 
The  Youth's  Instructor,  and  the  Tutor's  ease; 
From  tlarker  forms  it  clears  encumbered  Rules 
And  Learning  makes  the  fit  delight  of  Schools." 

Thomas  Dilworth  says  that  this  book  is  designed  "to  take  oif  that  heavy  burden 
of  writing  out  rules  and  questions  which  you  have  so  long  labored  under,'"  etc. 
He  divides  arithmetic  into  five  parts,  but  says:  "As  to  the  order,  I  can  hardly  find 
two  masters  follow  it  alike;"  and,  therefore,  he  adds:  "Everyman  may  turn  to 
that  rule  first  which  he  likes  should  lie  taught  first.''  But  his  division  is  still  com- 
monly followed. 

N.ithan  Daboll's  Assistant  succeeded  Dilworth's  in  this  country;  but  I  think  after 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 

Pike's  arithmetic,  a  small  book,  succeeded  Daboll's.  and  sold  on  the  merits  of 
Nicholas  Pike's  valuable  treatise,  issued  in  1786.  Whether  this  confusion  of  authors 
was  intentionally  made  I  do  not  know. 

I  may  name  here,  also,  what  remains  of  the  AVriting  Master's  Assistant  (quarto, 
paper),  London,  1794.  It  consisted  entirely  of  "copies"  to  be  imitated  by  the 
pupils.  They  were  first  written  by  "  William  Thomson,  of  Islington,  jjrofessor  of 
writing  and  accounts,  and  accurately  engraved  on  22  cojiperplates  by  H.  Ashby  " 
This  was  used  by  schoolmasters  in  New  Jersey,  who  cut  ont  single  lines  as  needed 
for  imitation  by  the  pupils  who  called  them  "  copy  ^ilates,"  instead  of  copperplates. 

In  old  arithmetics  it  was  nuich  more  the  custom  than  in  the  more  recent  to  give 
intricate  problems  to  be  solved  by  the  methods  given  in  the  rules.  The  introduction 
of  algebra  and  the  solution  of  such  questions  by  its  easier  methods  have  rendered 
their  introduction  into  arithmetics  uncommon.  Dr.  E.  A.  Bowser,  the  eminent 
mathematician,  gives  me  from  memory  a  specimen  problem  in  an  arithmetic  which 
he  studied  when  a  boy.    He  can  not  surely  recall  the  name  of  the  author  of  the  book  : 

"When  first  the  marriage  knot  was  tied. 

Betwixt  my  wife  and  me. 
My  age  did  hers  as  far  exceed 

As  three  times  three  does  three; 
But  when  ten  years  and  half  ten  years 

We  man  and  wife  had  been, 
Her  age  came  then  as  near  to  mine, 

As  eight  is  to  sixteen. 

What  was  the  age  of  each  of  us  when  we  were  married?" 

In  the  Federal  Calculator,  Schoolmasters  Assistant,  and  Young  Man's  Companion, 
published  in  Troy,  N,  Y.,  in  1802,  will  be  found  a  number  of  jirobiems.  such  as  the 
following: 

"A  man  driving  his  geese  to  market  was  met  by  a  man  who  said,  ■  (jood  morning 
with  your  hundred  geese.'  •  I  have  not  a  hundred  geese,'  says  he,  •  but  if  I  had  half 
as  many  as  I  now  have,  and  two  geese  and  a  half  besides  the  number  I  have  already, 
I  should  have  an  hundred.'     How  many  had  he  ?  " 

The  last  three  pages  of  the  book  are  occupied  with  copies,  such  as,  "When  sorrow 
is  asleep,  wake  it  not."  "Better  unborn  than  untaught.''  "He  who  seeks  trouble 
never  misses  it."     "  Kings  as  well  as  other  men  must  die." 


54  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

< 
I  copy  here  au  advertisement  in  1804  of  G.  »Sc  R.  White,  38  and  64  Maiden  Lane,  New 
York  -which  will  show  the  text-books  used  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
and  also  various  articles  which  were  kept  in  stationery  shops  of  that  period.  The 
last  item  mentioned  indicates  the  change  which  has  taken  place  since  that  time  in 
the  notions  of  morality  which  prevail  in  society. 

G.  cj''  B.  White,  SS  and  64  Maiden  Lane,  New  York. 

Bibles.  Cyphering  books.    ■ 

Prayer  1)ooks.  Copperplate  copies. 

Testaments.  In^  powder,  red  and  black. 

Easy  Standards.  Liquid  ink,  red  and  black. 

New  Guides.  Dutch  quills. 

Child's  spelling  l)ooks.  Penknives. 

Child's  Instructor.  Rulers. 

Murray's  Grammar.  Inkstands. 

Ash's  Grammar.  Sealing  wax. 

Webster's  Grammar.  Wafers. 

American  Selections.  Slates  and  pencils. 

Looking-Glass  for  the  Mind.  India  rubber. 

Schoolmaster's  Assistant.  Black  and  red  lead  pencils. 

Dwighfs  Geography.  Drawing  paper. 

Morse's  Geography.  Water  colors. 

Smith's  Geography.  Pencil  brushes. 

Entick's  Dictionary.  Pocketbooks. 

Perry's  Dictionary.  Writing  paper. 

Complete  Letter-writer.  l^l"e  paper,  marble  paper. 

Ready  Reckoner.  Bonnet  board. 

Song  books.  Receipt  books. 

Children's  History.  Blank  books. 

Catechisms.  Printed  forms  of  blanks. 

Primers.  Lottery  tickets  and  shares. 
Copy  books. 

Advertisement  of  Messrs.  Jppleton  in  1S5J. 
Books  by  George  R.  Perkins,  principal  of  New  York  State  Noi'mal  School : 

1.  Primary  Arithmetic,  21c.  4.  Elements  of  Algebra,  84c. 

2.  Elementary  Arithmetic,  42c.  5.  Treatise  on  Algebra,  $1.50. 

3.  Higher  Arithmetic,  84c.  6.  Elements  of  Geometry,  $1. 

DR.    THOMAS    HUN,    OF    ALBANY. 

Dr.  Thomas  Huu,  of  Albany,  who  died  iu  the  summer  of  1896,  some 
time  before  his  death  seut  me  at  my  request  an  account  of  the  text' 
books  used  by  him  in  the  Albany  Academy  and  in  Union  College.  We 
give  his  account  in  his  own  words : 

AVhen  I  went  to  the  Albany  Academy  in  1818,  then  10  years  old,  I  had  studied  in  a 
private  school  Latin  grammar,  Viri  Roma",  and  a  little  of  Cornelius  Nepos.  I  was 
put  iu  a  class  which  was  studying  Coesar,  and  we  studied  successively,  Virgil,  Cicero, 
Justin,  Terence,  Sallust,  and  Tacitus;  and  in  Greek  the  New  Testament,  Collectanea 
Gr;eca  Minora  and  Majora,  and  Adams's  Antiquities.  I  studied  the  above  exclusively 
for  two  years;  and  after  that  spent  half  the  day  in  English  imtil  1824,  when  I 
entered  the  junior  class  in  Union  College.  My  classical  studies  in  college  were  the 
same  as  the  more  advanced  studies  in  the  academy.  As  to  my  studies  iu  the  English 
department,  I  know  not  what  books  I  used.     I  can  only  recall  Tytler'a  History.     In 


NOTES    ON    EARLY   TEXT-BOOKS. 


55 


matiieuuitics  we  used  Daboll's  Arithmetic,  PJayl'air's  Euclid,  Bonuycastle's  Algebra, 
and  a  tiigonouietry  wliich  I  cau  not  remember.  Wheu  we  were  more  advanced  we 
took  Lacroix's  Arithmetic  and  Algebra  aud  his  Ditt'ereutial  and  Integral  Calculus,  to 
which  I  owe  the  small  knowledge  of  mathematics  Avhich  I  ever  had. 

We  studied  also  iu  college  Karnes's  Elements  of  Criticism  and  a  small  work  on 
conic  sections.  In  the  Albany  Academy  we  had  as  a  text-book,  I  think,  Parker's 
Chemistry. 

LIST  OF  TEXT-BOOKS  IX  USE  1825  TO  1S32. 
15y  Uhakles  D.  Deshlei!.' 


\Vebstcr\s  Si)elling  Book. 

Mrs.  Barbauld's  Popular  Lessons. 


1825— 1S27. 

Marie  Edgworth's  Moral  Tales. 

1S2S-1S29. 


Bnrhans'    Spelling    Book.     For    younger 

pupils. 
Bnilians'    Nomcnclatur(\      For    younger 

pupils. 
Walker's  Prououuciug  Dictionary.     For 

more  advanced  pupils. 
DalioU's  Schoolmaster's  Assistant. 
Jack   Halyard.      Reader    for    younger 

pupils. 
The    American    Preceptor.     Reader    for 

more  advanced  pupils. 


The  English  Reader.  For  more  advanced 
pupils. 

Goldsmith's  Polite  Learning,  Contribn- 
tions  of  Q.  Q.,  Mrs.  Opie's  Tales.  Con- 
tinuous readers. 

Liudley  Murray's  English  Grammar. 
Afterwards  sujjerseded  by  Kirkham's 
English  Grammar. 

Morse's  Geography. 

Woodbridge's  Geography. 


1S29— 1832. 

Ruddimau's  Latin  Grammar.    Afterwards     Ainsworth's  Abridged  Latin  Dictiouarv. 


superseded  by  Bullion's  Latin  Gram- 
ma r.- 

Historia  Sacra. 

Anthou's  Yiri  RonuB, 

Authou's Cornelius  Nepos,  Caesar,  Sallust, 
Cicero,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  in  course. 

Lempriere's  Classical  Dictionary.  Su- 
perseded by  Authon's  Classical  Diction- 
ary. 


Superseded  by  Anthon's  Latin-English 
Dictionary. 
Valpy's  Greek  Grammar.  Superseded  by 
Authou's  Greek  Grammar,  Anthou's 
First  Greek  Lessons,  Authon's  Greek 
Reader. 


'  See  Mr.  Deshlers's  accouut  of  his  P'arly  Schools,  p.  3L 

-  The  persistency  with  which  the  memory  clings  to  things  acquired  iu  early  life  is 
shown  by  an  incident  which  a  friend  narrated  to  me.  His  son  was  going  through 
the  experience  of  committiug  to  memory  the  rules  iu  Andrews  and  Stoddard's  Latin 
Grammar  wheu  that  book  was  iu  the  full  swing  of  its  popularity  in  the  schools. 
He  had  summoned  his  father  to  see  if  he  could  say  the  rule  that  26  prepositions  are 
followed  by  the  accusative,  viz: 

Jd,  adrersks  or  adrcrsum,  ante,  apttd,  circa  or  circnnt,  circiter,  cis  or  citra,  contra,  erga, 
extra,  infra,  inter,  intra,  jiixtra,  oh,  penes,  per,  po)ie,  post,  praeter,  prope,  propter,  secun- 
dum, supra,  trans,  ultra.  Belbre  ho  began  the  enumeration  the  father  exclaimed, 
"Hold  on,  Lew;  it  is  thirty  years  since  I  learned  that  list  and  I  have  never  had 
occasion  to  repeat  it  siuce;  let  me  see  if  I  can  repeat  it  now."  Aud  without  a  mis- 
take or  the  least  hesitation  he  went  through  the  whole  list. 


56  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

WEBSTEE-S   SPELLING  BOOK. 

1^0  single  text-book  lias  bad  anything-  like  so  wide  a  circulation  in 
the  United  States  as  Webster's  Spelling  Book.  The  author  was  a  poor, 
struggling  literary  mau^  and  was  casting  about  desperately  for  some 
enterprise  which  would  be  remunerative.  He  devised  a  plan  for  a 
grammatical  institute  of  the  English  language  in  three  parts.  The 
spelling  book  was  the  part  of  this  which  was  first  published  in  1783. 
A  philosophical  and  practical  English  grammar  followed  in  1807. 
And  then,  after  twenty  years  and  with  infinite  labor,  he  brought  out 
the  American  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language.  It  is  said  that  he 
and  his  family  lived  during  the  preparation  of  this  dictionary  on  a 
small  royaltj'  which  he  received  from  the  sale  of  the  spelling  book. 

This  famous  book  attained  its  immense  popularity,  not  so  much 
because  of  its  excellence,  as  because  it  came  into  use  immediately  after 
the  Revolutionary  war,  when  books  originating  in  England  were  at  a 
discount  and  the  American  spirit  was  iirevalent  in  everything.  It  was 
common  in  those  days  for  the  publisher  to  make  arrangements  with 
persons  in  each  State  for  the  local  i^ublication  of  the  spelling  book. 
Thus,  in  Is^ew  Jersey,  'Mv.  John  Terhune,  of  ii^ew  Brunswick,  was  the 
State  publisher,  and  he  printed  and  sold  all  the  copies  which  were  used 
in  the  schools  of  the  State. 

It  would  be  an  interesting  inquiry  to  ascertain  how  many  of  the 
Webster's  Spelling  Book  have  in  all  been  sold.^  During  the  period 
from  1855  to  1890  the  copyright  belonged  to  Messrs.  D.  Appleton  tS:  Co., 
publishers,  of  Xew  York.  Before  that  period  Messrs.  Merriam,  the 
publishers  of  Webster's  Dictionary,  were  the  owners  of  the  copyright. 
In  1890  the  Messrs.  Appleton  sold  the  property  to  the  American  School 
Book  Company.  We  give  below  the  annual  sales  during  the  period 
that  the  Appletons  were  the  publishers : 

Sales  of  fTehsters  Sjicller  from  1S55  to  1S90. 


1855 1,093,500  |  1864 657,852 

1856 1,187,682 

1857 1,092,130 


1858 984, 652 


1865 633,  484 

1866 1.596.708 


1867 1, 137,  085 


1859 1,104,948     1868 954,776 

1860 938,108  |  1869 951.744 

1861 706,344  |  1870 960.422 

1862 308.  147  |  1871 833.  905 

1863 498,958  |  1872 979,204 

'  In  Scudcler's  Life  of  Noah  "Webster  Tve  find  the  following  facts  on  this  subject 
stated:  In  1814  and  1815  the  sales  were  286,000  a  year.  In  1828  the  sales  were  esti- 
mated at  350,000.  In  1847  the  statement  is  made  that  up  to  that  time  24,000,000 
copies  had  been  sold,  and  that  then  sales  averaged  about  1,000.000  a  year.  During 
the  twenty  years  that  he  worked  on  his  dictionary  he  supported  his  family  on  the 
royalty  of  5  cents  on  each  copy  of  his  spelling  book.  For  the  eight  years  following 
the  civil  war  (1866-1873)  8,196,028  copies  were  sold.     (See  p.  71.) 


NOTES  ON  EARLY  TEXT-BOOKS.  57 

Sales  of  Webster n  Speller  from  ISJJ  to  1S90 — Coutiuued. 

1873 796,008     1883 916,434 

1874 752,224     1884 952,734 

1875 738,851  '  1885 788,118 

1876..... 738.361  i  1886 829,848 

1877 775,925     1887 734,832 

1878 865,738  I  1888 744,594 

1879 836,662     1889 644,004 

1880 1,062,986     1890 631,296 

1881 861,444  1                                                         

1882 865.356                Total.... 31,155,064 

Average  yearly  sale,  865,419. 

COLLEGE    TEXT-BOOKS. 

I  have  made  some  search  in  tlie  catalogues  of  Princeton  University 
and  of  Entgers  College  with  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  books 
had  been  in  use  at  various  times  and  when  new  books  were  first  intro- 
duced. I  have  had  lists  made  of  some  of  these  books,  which  are  given 
below  with  a  view  of  throwing  some  light  on  this  interesting  subject 
of  college  textbooks. 

'  I.  College  of  New  Jersey. 

1.    FIRST   MENTION   OF    TEXT-BOOKS. 

[The  list  given  below  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Tb.  Cutellean,  and  gives  the  date  of  the  first  introduction 
of  each  text-booli  into  the  curriculum,  from  its  foundation  to  18(50.] 

1750.  Watts'  Ontology,  a  Latin  Grammar  (kuowu  as  the  Newark  Grammar); 
Cicero  De  Oratore  (name  of  editor  not  found) ;  Grammar  of  Hebrew  (name  of  editor 
not  given);  Watts'  Astronomy;  Watts'  Book  of  Logick;  Gordon's  Geographical 
Grammar,  Martin's  Natural  Philosophy  (two  volumes). 

1751.  Grave's  Ethicks  (two  volumes). 

1752.  Whiston  and  Brent's  Astronomical  Tables;  Hodgson's  Theory  of  Navigation  ; 
Street's  Tables. 

1793.  Miuto's  Trigonometry,  Practical  Geometry,  and  Conic  Sections;  Nicholson's 
Natural  Philosophy;  South's  English  Granmiar. 

1794.  The  following  books  are  mentioned  for  this  year,  l)ut  the  editors'  names  are 
not  given:  Greek  Testament,  Sallust,  Lnciau,  Xenojihon,  Homer,  Horace,  Cicero, 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  arithmetick.  English  grammar  (perhaps  South's),  composition, 
trigonometry  (perhaps  Minto'sj,  conies,  natural  philosophy.  Also  the  following: 
Guthrie's  Geography,  Simpson's  Algebra,  Bossut's  Elements  of  Geometry,  Main's 
Introduction  to  Latin  Syntax,  Kennet's  Roman  Antiquities,  Wettenhall's  Greek 
Grammar,  Sherwin's  Logarithms,  Moore's  Navigation ;  Withersiioon's  Moral  Philos- 
ophy. Criticism,  and  Chronology;  Duncan's  Logic. 

ISOO.  Dr.  Smith's  Lectures  on  the  Evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion,  Gisborne's 
Studies  of  the  Bible,  Prettyman's  History  of  the  Bible.  Westminster  Shorter  Cate- 
chism, Episcopal  Catechism  and  the  Articles  (in  Latin). 

1820.  [The  required  entrance  subjects,  during  this  period  and  earlier,  possibly  con- 
sisted in  such  books  and  authors  as  Ca-sar's  Bellum  Gallicum  (5  books),  Sallust, 
Virgil  (Eclogues  and  .Eneid),  Cicero's  Sidect  Orations,  ]Mair's  Introduction  to  Latin 
Syntax,  the  Gospels  in  the  Greek  Testament.  Dalzell's  Collecteana  Gr;eca  Minora, 
.Jacobs'  Greek  Reader,  and  Livy.] 

1822.  Dalzell's  Collecteana  Gra^ca  Majora,  Playfair's  Euclid,  Jamison's  Rhetoric, 
Locke  on  the  Human  I'nderstanding. 


58  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

1S30.  Vetliake's  Principles  of  Political  Ecouomy. 

1831.  Demustbeues  De  Corona;  Plato's  Dialogues,  volume  1,  Tauchuitz  edition; 
^Eschines  Do  Corona.  [These  vcorks  were  introduced  about  this  time,  although  I 
am  not  quite  sure  that  it  was  this  very  year. — C] 

1832.  Euripides,  Tauchnitz  edition. 

1833.  Cicero  De  Orticiis,  De  Amicitia,  De  .Seuectute;  Young's  Plane  ami  Spherical 
Trigonometry  and  Analytical  Geometry,  or  Conic  Sections. 

183.").  Aristotle's  Art  of  Poetry. 

1842.  Davies'  Bourdon's  Algebra;  .Tuveual  and  Perseus,  Tauchnitz  edition. 

1845.  Mineralogy,  botany,  geology.  [The  authors'  names  of  these  subjects  not 
given.] 

1848.  Hackley's  Algebra,  Young's  Integral  Calculus,  Reuwick's  Mechauics  (with 
additions),  Soi>hocles  (Tauchnitz  edition),  Paley's  Natural  Theology;  Civil  Archi- 
tecture (author's  name  not  given) ;  Coustitatinu  of  the  I'nited  States. 

1849.  Alexander's  Differential  and  Integral  Calculus,  Tacitus'  Germania  and  Agri- 
cola,  Alexander's  Evidences  of  Christianity,  Sophocles'  Oedipus  Tj'raunus ;  zoology 
(author's  name  not  given). 

18.50.  Blair's  Rhetoric. 

1851.  Whateley  and  Blair's  Rhetoric. 

1852.  Alexander's  Ratio  and  Proportion. 

1854.  The  Study  of  Words,  by  Archbishop  Trench. 

1855.  Butler's  Analogy ;  Whateley's  Logic;  Walker's  Reid. 

1846.  Hodge's  Way  of  Life;  Paley's  Hora?  Paulime  ;  Longinus. 

1857.  Terence's  Andria;  Constitutional  Law. 

1858.  nerodotus(probably  the  Tauchnitz  edition) ;  Coleman's  Biblical  History  and 
Geography;  Day's  Rhetoric. 

isno.  Intellectual  philosophy. 

2.    ADMISSION    KEQUIKEMENTS   OF    THE    COLLEGE    OF   ySKW   JERSEY. 

1840-41.  Cii'sar's  Commentaries,  five  books;  Sallust;  Virgil's  Eclogues  and  six 
books  of  the  ^Eneid;  Cicero's  Select  Orations  contained  in  the  volume  In  Usum 
Delphini;  Mair's  Introduction  to  Latin  Syntax;  the  Gospels  in  the  Greek  Testament; 
Dalzell's  Collectanea  Gr;eca  Minora,  or  Jacobs'  Greek  Reader,  or  other  authors 
equivalent  in  quantity;  together -with  Latin  and  Greek  grammar,  including  Latin 
prosody;  English  grammar;  arithmetic;  geography,  ancient  and  modern. 

18.50-51.  Ca'sar's  Commentaries,  five  books;  Virgil's  Eclogues  and  six  books  of 
the^Eneid;  Cicero's  Select  Orations  contained  in  the  volume  In  Usum  Delphini; 
Mair's  Introduction  to  Latin  Syntax;  the  Gospels  in  the  Greek  Testament;  Dalzell's 
Collectanea  Gra'ca  Minora,  or  Jacobs'  Greek  Reader,  or  other  authors  equivalent  in 
quantity;  Latin  and  Greek  grammar,  including  Latin  prosody;  English  grammar; 
arithmetic;  the  elements  of  algebra  through  simple  e(]uatious;  geographj',  ancient 
and  modern. 

3.    COURSES   OK    STUDY    IX    THE    COLLEciE    OK   NEW    JERSEY. 

1  S40-4 1 . 

Freshman  year. — Winter  ses.sion :  Livy;  Xeuophon's  Anabasis;  Rom.an  Antitjui- 
fcies;  Latin  and  Greek  exercises;  algebra  (Davies'  Bourdon). 

Summer  session:  Horace  (Odes);  .Eschines  de  Corona;  Latin  and  Greek  exer- 
cises; algebra  (completed). 

Sophomore  //ear.— Winter  session :  Horace  (Satires  and  Epistles) ;  Demosthenes 
De  Corona;  Latin  and  Greek  exercises;  geometry  (Playfair's  Euclid) ;  plane  trig- 
onometry. 

Summer  session:  Cicero  1  «■  Ofiiciis,  De  Amicitia,  et  De  Seuectute;  Homer's  Iliad; 
l)Iane  and  spherical  trigonometry  (Young's);  mensuration;  surveying;  nautical 
astronomy. 


NOTES  ON  EARLY  TEXT-BOOKS.  59 

Junior  i/tar. — "Winter  sessiou :  Aualytical  geometry,  including  conic  sections; 
descriiitive  geometry ;  dift'ereutial  calculus  (Young);  Cicero  DeOratore;  Euripides; 
l^hilosopLy  of  the  mind;  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

.Summer  session:  Integral  calculus  (Young);  mechanics  (Renwick);  Cicero  De 
Oratore;  Sophocles;  natural  theology  (Paley) ;  civil  architecture. 

Setiior  ye(tr. — Winter  session:  Belles  lettres;  logic;  moral  philosophy;  i)olitical 
I  economy;  natural  philosophy;  astronomy;  Latin  rhetorical  works;  Aristotle's  Art 
of  Poetry. 

Summer  session:  Moral  philosophy;  natural  philosophy  (continued);  astronomy 
(continued);  chemistry;  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  general  review  of 
studies. 

1850-51. 

Freshman  year. — First  term  :  Livy;  Xenophon's  Anabasis;  archaeology;  Latin  and 
Greek  exercises;  algehra  (Hackleyj ;  history. 

Second  term :  Horace  (inkles) ;  Xenophon's  Memorabilia ;  Latin  and  Greek  exercises ; 
algebra  (comi^leted) ;  geometry  (Playfair's  Euclid);  history. 

Sophomore  near. — First  term:  Horace  (Satires  and  Epistles);  Demosthenes  De 
Corona;  Latin  and  Greek  exercises;  geometry  (Playfair's  Euclid),  completed;  plane 
trigonometry ;  arch;¥ology. 

Second  term:  Cicero  De  Officiis,  De  Amicitia,  et  De  Senectute:  Homer's  Iliad; 
plane  and  spherical  trigonometry,  with  their  applications  to  mensuration  ;  survey- 
ing, navigation,  etc.;  mathematical  and  physical  geography. 

Junior  year. — First  term:  Rhetoric  (Whately  and  Blair);  analytical  geometry, 
including  conic  sections  (Young);  Tacitus  (Gei'mania  and  Agricola);  Euripides; 
Evidences  of  Christianity  (Alexander). 

Second  term:  Rhetoric;  difl'erential  and  integral  calculus  (Alexander) ;  mechanics; 
Juvenal  and  Perseus;  Sophocles  (CEdipus  Tyranuus);  natural  theology  (Paley); 
civil  architecture;  botany. 

Senior  year. — First  term:  Logic;  philosophy  of  the  mind;  natural  philosophy; 
astronomy;  chemistry;  Aristotle's  Art  of  Poetry. 

Second  term:  Moral  philosophy ;  constitutional  law  ;  natural  philosophy ;  astron- 
omy; chemistry;  mineralogy;  geology;  zoology;  general  review  of  studies. 

II.  Rutgers  Collegk. 

1.   PIRST   MENTION    OF   TEXT-BOOKS. 

(Only  such  titles  are  given  as  seem  to  be  the  names  of  particular  books.) 

1825.  Gr;¥ca  Majora,  Vols.  I,  II;  Euclid's  Elements  of  Geometry;  Blair's  Lectures 
on  Rhetoric. 

1828.  Nelson's  Greek  Exercises;  Hassler's  Arithmetic;  Bonnycastle's  Algebra. 

Legendre's  Geometry  (Cambridge  edition);  ^Voodbridge's  Large  System  of  Geog- 
raphy; Campbell's  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric;  Hedge's  Logic. 

1835.  Day's  Mathematics;  Young's  Trigonometry;  Young's  Analytical  Geometry ; 
Young's  Calculus. 

1841.  Story's  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution;  Huttou's  Geometry;  Cavallo's 
Natural  Philosophy. 

1846.  Huttou's  ^Mathematics  (edited  by  Rutherford). 

1850.  St.  Basil's  Discourse  on  Greek  Authors. 

2.    REQUIREMENTS   FOR    ADMISSION    TO    RUTGERS    COLLEGE. 

ISIO. 

No  one.  shall  be  admitted  into  the  freshman  class  unless  he  be  found  on  examina- 
tion able  to  make  grammatical  Latin  of  any  exercises  of  Mair's  Introduction  and 
to  translate  into  English  from  the  Latin  Ctesar's  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War, 


60  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Sallust,  tlie  Eclogues,  the  Georgians,  and  five  books  of  the  ^Eueid  of  Virgil,  and 
from  the  Greek  tlie  four  evangelists  of  the  New  Testament,  or  what  shall  in  the  i 
judgment  of  the  faculty  be  eciuivalent  in  other  authors,  and  also  to  23erform  any 
ordiuary  exercise  in  vulgar  arithmetic  at  least  as  far  as  the  rule  of  proportion. 

1825. 

No  student  shall  be  admitted  into  the  lowest  class  unless  he  l>e  able  accurately  to 
render  Mair's  Innoduction  into  Latin  and  Nelson's  Exercises  into  Greek,  and  to 
translate  into  Englisli  from  the  Latin  Citsar's  Coumientaries,  Sallust,  the  Eclogues 
of  Virgil,  and  five  liooks  of  the  ^Eneid,  and  from  the  Greek  the  four  evangelists  of 
the  New  Testament  and  the  Collectanea  Grteca  Minora,  or  what  shall  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  faculty  be  equivalent  in  other  authors,  and  also  to  perform  any  ordi- 
nary exercises  in  vulgar  arithmetic  at  least  as  far  as  the  riile  of  proportion,  decimal 
and  vulgar  fractions  inclusive. 

1S30. 

No  student  can  be  admitted  into  tlie  lowest  class  unless  he  lie  able  accurately  to 
render  Mair's  Introduction  into  Latin  and  to  translate  into  English  from  Latin  Jour 
books  of  Cicsar's  Commentaries,  Sallust,  the  four  orations  of  Cicero  against  Cati- 
line, and  two  books  of  the  ^Eneid;  and  from  the  Greek  the  four  Evangelists  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  the  Collectanea  Gra^ca  Minora,  or  what  shall  be  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  faculty  equivaleut  in  other  authors;  and  also  to  perform  any  exercises 
in  vulgar  arithmetic  as  far  as  the  extraction  of  the  roots. 

1841=42." 

A  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  grammars;  four  books  of  CiPsar's  Commentaries; 
six  books  of  Virgil's  .Eneid;  Cicero's  Orations  against  Catiline;  Sallust;  the  Greek 
Gosjicls  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  Jacob's  or  Clark's  Greek  Reader,  and  a 
knowledge  of  arithmetic. 

1S50=51. 

The  requirements  are  stated  in  the  same  words  as  for  1841-12. 

3.    COURSES   OF    STUDY   IX   KUTGERS   COLLEGE. 

1825. 

Pres/iHirtn  j/ef.r.— First  term:  .Eneid  of  Virgil  from  Book  VI;  Roman  antiquities; 
Latin  translations  and  prosody;  Xenophon;  Greek  translations  and  prosody:  Mod- 
ern geography;  arithmetic  of  powers,  roots,  progressions,  etc.;  English  grammar; 
composition,  English  reading,  and  declamation. 

Second  term:  Cicero's  orations,  Cato  Major,  and  Ladius;  ancient  geography; 
Latin  translations  and  prosody;  Xenophon  (continued) ;  Greek  antiijuities;  Greek 
translations  and  jirosody;  modern  geography;  elements  of  algebra:  composition, 
English  reading,  and  declamation. 

Third  term:  Odes  of  Horace,  Terence,  translations;  Xenophon's  cyropedia,  trans- 
lations; algebra,  continued;  modern  geography ;  composition,  English  reading,  and 
declamations. 

Sophomore  year. — First  term:  Cicero  De  Ofticiis  and  Tusculau  disputations;  aca- 
demical questions;  translations;  Giwca  Majora-Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Xeno- 
phon's Anabasis ;  translations;  Euclid's  elements  of  geometry :  composition,  English 
reading,  and  declamation. 

Second  term:  Epistles  of  Horace,  translations;  Grajca  Majora-Lysias,  Isocrates, 
Demosthenes;  Plato,  Aristotle,  Dionysius  Ilelicarnassus,  Thcophrastus,  Polyuanis, 
-iElianus,  Pcdybius,  translations;  Euclid's  elements  of  geometry  (  continued) ;  ancient 
geography;  logic,  composition,  English  reading,  and  declamation. 


NOTES  ON  EAKLY  TEXT-BOOKS.  61 

Third  term;  Cicero  De  Oratore;  translations,  Gr;eca  Majora  (Vol,  I  contiuued) ; 
plane  trigonometry ;  surveying,  mensuration,  etc.;  logic,  composition,  declamation. 

Junior  year. — First  term:  Livy,  translations;  Griuca  Majora  (Vol.  II),  Homer's 
Odyssey;  Hesiod;  Apollonius  Ehodius,  tran.slations ;  Spherics;  use  of  the  globes; 
projections;  Blair's  Ehetoric;  composition;  declamation. 

Sei'ond  term:  Horace's  Satires;  Gra'ca  Majora-Sophocles,  Euripides,  Theocritus, 
Biou.  Iloschus,  Sappho,  Pindar,  Callimachus,  etc.;  conic  sections;  descriptive  geom- 
etry; theory  of  curves;  Blair's  Khetoric;  composition;  declamation. 

Third  term. — Quintillian  ;  Homer's  Iliad;  Fluxions,  or  the  differential  and  integral 
calculus;  Christian  ethics;  philosophy  of  mind;  composition  and  declamation. 

Senior  year. — First  term:  Horace  de  Arte  Poetica;  Virgil's  Georgiacs;  Longinus; 
natural  philosophy ;  Christian  ethics  (concluded) ;  philosophy  of  the  mind;  philoso- 
phy of  rhetoric ;  composition  and  declamation. 

Second  term:  Tacitus,  translations;  Epistles  of  the  Neu-  Testament;  natural  phi- 
losophy (continued) ;  philosophy  of  the  mind;  history  and  chronology ;  elements  of 
criticism;  composition  and  declamation. 

Third  term:  Tacitus;  Epistles  of  the  Greek  Testament;  Hebrew  or  French,  at 
option;  natural  philosophy  (concluded) ;  practical  and  physical  astronomy ;  political 
economy ;  evidences  of  revelation ;  history  and  chronology ;  composition  and 
declamation. 

1S41. 

Freshman  year. — First  term:  Herodotus  and  Livy  with  Greek  and  Latin  composi- 
tion; Greek  and  Koman  antiquities  and  mythology;  arithmetic,  reviewed,  and 
algebra;  geographj',  ancient  and  modern. 

Second  term :  Odes  of  Horace,  or  minor  treatises;  Cicero's  Letters  (ad  Diversos) 
and  Homer's  Iliad ;  antiquities,  mythology,  and  ancient  geograjihy ;  Greek  and  Latin 
exercises;  algebra,  completed. 

Third  term:  Xenophon's  Memorabilia;  mythology,  anti(iuities,  and  ancient  geog- 
raphy; Satires  and  Epistles  of  Horace;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises;  geometry  (Hut- 
ton's)  commenced;  declamations,  translations,  and  compositions  throughout  the 
year. 

Sophomore  year. — First  term :  Cicero — Letters  to  Atticus  or  De  Oratore ;  Homer's 
Odyssey,  or  Hesiod ;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises ;  geometry,  completed ;  logarithms. 

Second  term :  Demosthenes,  or  Thucydides ;  Terence,  Plautus,  or  Cicero  de  Claris 
Oratoribus;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises;  Young's  Plane  Trigonometry ;  mensuration 
of  heights  and  distances. 

Third  term:  A  tragedy  of  Euripides  or  one  of  the  Olynthiac  orations  of  Demos- 
thenes; Tacitus;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises;  navigation,  and  mensuration  of  super- 
ficies and  solids;  surveying  and  engineering;  compositions  and  declamations 
throughout  the  year. 

Junior  year. — First  term:  Tragedy  of  Sophocles  and  Medea  of  Seneca;  Greek  and 
Latin  exercises  and  essays  on  classical  sul)jects;  spherical  trigonometry  and  astron- 
omy; logic;  philosophy  of  rhetoric  (Campbell's). 

Second  term:  A  dialogue  of  Plato;  Cicero's  Tusculan  Disputations;  translations 
and  essays;  analytical  geometry,  embracing  conic  sections;  Young's  Differential 
Calculus;  Campbell's  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric  (continued);  Christian  ethics;  phi- 
losophy of  the  mind;  chemistry. 

Third  term :  A  tragedy  of  ^Eschylus ;  Juvenal ;  translations  and  essays ;  Young's 
Integral  Calculus;  Christian  ethics;  philosophy  of  the  mind;  Campbell's  Philosophy 
of  Rhetoric  (completed) ;  chemistry.  Composition  and  declamation  throughout  the 
year. 

Senior  year. — First  term:  A  tragedy  of  ^Eschylus  or  Sophocles;  Cicero  de  Ofiticiis  ; 
history  of .  Greek  and  Roman  literature;  Cavallo's  Natural  Philosophy;  Story's 
Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  evidences  of  revelation. 


62  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Sei'onu  term:  Pindar;  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry;  trauslatious  and  essays;  natural 
lihilosophy  (Cdntinuedj ;  Story's  Cotniuentaries  (-continued);  Christian  ethics;  pbi- 
losopliy  of  the  mind;  history  and  chronology;  chemistry. 

Third  term:  A  Greek  tragedy,  or  Orations  of  Demosthenes;  Qniutilian,  or  Satires 
of  Perseus;  natural  philosopliy;  history  and  chronology ;  })olitical  economy  ;  Chris- 
tian ethics  (completed) ;  geology  and  mineralogy.  Compositions,  declamations,  and 
disputations  weekly  during  the  year. 

1S50-51. 

Freshman  (/ear.— First  term:  Herodotus  or  Homer's  Iliad,  and  Livy;  Greek  and 
Latin  exercises;  arithmetic  (reviewed);  algebra  (Hutton's  Mathematics);  geogra- 
phy, ancient  and  modern;  French  language  and  liteiature. 

Second  term:  Odes  of  Horace,  or  minor  treatises  of  Cicero;  Cicero's  Letters  (ad 
Diversos);  Homer's  Iliad;  antiquities,  mythology,  and  ancient  geography;  Greek 
and  Latin  exercises;  algebra  (Hutton's)  completed;  French  language  and  literature. 

Third  term:  Xenophon's  Memorabilia ;  mythology  and  antiquities;  ancient  geog- 
raphy; Satires  and  Epistles  of  Horace;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises;  geometry 
(Hutton's);  French  language  and  literature.  Declamations,  translations,  and  com- 
positions throughout  the  year. 

Sophomore  year. — First  term:  Cicero — Letters  to  Atticus,  or  de  Oratore;  Homer's 
Odyssey,  or  Hesiod;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises;  geometry  completed,  logarithms 
(Hutton's) ;  French  language  and  literature. 

Secontl  term:  Demosthenes  or  Thucydides;  Terence,  Plautns,  or  Cicei'o  de  Claris 
Oratoribus;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises;  jilane  trigonometry  (Hutton)  and  mensura- 
tion of  heights  and  distances;  French  language  and  literature. 

Third  term  :  A  tragedy  of  Euripides,  or  Orations  of  Demosthenes ;  navigation ;  and 
mensuration  of  superficies  and  solids  (Hutton) ;  Tacitus ;  Greek  and  Latin  exercises : 
surveying  and  engineering ;  French  language  and  literature.  Compositions  and  dec- 
lamations throughout  the  year. 

Junior  year. — First  term:  A  tragedy  of  Sophocles  and  Medea  of  Seneca;  Greek 
and  Latin  exercises  and  essays  on  classical  subjects;  spherical  trigonometry  and 
astronomy;  logic;  i)hilosophy  of  rhetoric;  French  language  and  literature. 

Second  term :  A  dialogue  of  Plato;  Cicero's  Tusculan  Disputations;  translations 
and  essays;  analytical  geometry,  embracing  conic  sections;  ditferential  calculus 
(Hutton);  philosophy  of  rhetoric  (continued);  Christian  ethics;  philosophy  of  the 
mind;  chemistry. 

Third  term:  A  tragedy  of  ^Eschylus ;  Juvenal;  translations  and  essays;  integral 
calculus  (Hutton);  Christian  ethics;  philosophy  of  the  mind ;  philosophy  of  rhet- 
oric (completed);  chemistry.     Compositions  and  declamations  throughout  the  year. 

Senior  year.— First  term:  St  Basil's  Discourse  on  the  Greek  Writers,  or  a  tragedy 
of  ..Eschylus  or  Sophocles;  Cicero  de  Othciis;  history  of  Greek  and  Roman  litera- 
ture; Cavallo's  Natural  Philosophy;  Story's  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States;  evidemes  of  revelation. 

Second  term:  Pindar;  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry;  translations  and  essays;  natural 
philosoi>hy  (continued);  Story's  Commentaries  (continued);  Christian  ethics:  phi- 
losopliy of  the  mind;  history  and  chronology;  chemistry. 

Third  term :  A  Greek  tragedy,  or  Orations  of  Demosthenes;  Qniutilian,  or  Satires 
of  Perseus;  natural  philosoi)hy;  history  and  chronology  ;  political  economy ;  Chris- 
tian ethics  (completed! ;  geology  and  mineralogy.  Compositions,  declamations,  and 
disputatious  weekly  during  the  year. 


Chapter  VI. 

ACADEMIES  AND   SECONDARY   SCHOOLS. 

Schools  wliicli  were  established  by  corporations  and  by  individuals 
for  giving  an  elementary  classical  education  preceded  in  point  of  time 
the  establishment  of  public  schools.  Neighborhood  schools,  which 
communities  set  up  for  the  elementary  instruction  of  their  children  in 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  were,  of  course,  the  earliest  steps  in  the 
educational  development.  But  when  these  communities  became  more 
advanced  in  wealth  and  physical  comforts  there  were  everywhere  move- 
ments for  higher  schools.  All  the  religious  bodies  that  shared  in  the 
early  settlement  of  New  Jersey  were  friends  of  education,  and  most  of 
them  prided  themselves  on  having  an  educated  ministry.  It  was  some- 
what later  that  these  denominations  set  uj)  theological  seminaries;  but 
colleges  which  could  imi)art  a  sufficient  classical  training,  and  acade- 
mies '  which  could  prepare  young  men  for  entering  these  colleges,  were 
early  looked  upon  as  educational  necessities.  In  New  England,  where 
this  necessity  was  first  felt,  there  were  many  schools  of  this  academic 
grade,  and  Uarvard,  the  first  college  in  the  colonies,  was  founded  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Long  before  the  people  of  New  Jersey  were  pre- 
pared to  rely  ui)on  their  own  means  of  education  they  were  accustomed 
to  send  their  sons  to  the  schools  and  colleges  of  New  England.  This 
was  especially  true  of  the  communities  whose  ancestors  had  emigrated 
from  New  England.  In  most  other  cases  the  young  men  who  were 
designed  for  the  liberal  i)rofessious  were  sent  to  I-urope  to  enjoy  there 
the  privileges  which  they  could  not  obtain  at  home.  Even  until  the 
time  of  the  war  for  independence  many  of  the  rising  young  men  in  the 
colonies  secured  their  academic  and  professional  education  in  Holland 
or  in  England  or  Scotland. 

Taking  the  counties  of  the  State  in  alphabetical  order,  we  propose  to 
give  some  account  of  secondarj^  education  in  each. 

ATLANTIC    COUNTY. 

There  are  now  in  Atlantic  County  high  schools  at  Atlantic  City  and 
at  Egg  Harbor  City.     Of  the  former  the  following  statistics  are  given 

^  The  use  of  the  word  "academy"  in  the  sense  of  a  school  for  secondary  education 
is  distinctly  of  American  origin.  There  is  nothing  in  its  ancient  Grecian  or  Roman 
use,  or  in  its  employmoiit  in  Europe  in  modern  times,  to  suggest  the  sense  in  which 
it  became  common,  especially  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

63 


64  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

in  the  Keport  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for 

1894-95 : 

Name  of  school,  Atlantic  City  High  School;  principal,  Henry  P.  Miller;  other 
teachers,  3;  pui)ils  of  secondary  grade,  55;  preparing  for  college,  5. 

Of  the  latter  the  returns  are  as  follows : 

Name  of  school.  Egg  Harbor  City  High  School;  principal,  Henry  C.  Krebs;  other 
teachers,  1 ;  pupils  of  secondary  grade,  8;  graduates,  1895,  6. 

BERGEN    COUNTY. 

As  has  been  already  stated,  the  village  of  Bergen  was  the  first  Euro- 
pean settlement  established  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  Eiver 
within  the  bouudaries  of  New  Jersey.  This  settlement  is  believed  to 
have  been  begun  in  1658,  when  certain  Hollanders  petitioned  tlie 
governor  of  New  Amsterdam  for  leave  to  settle  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Hudson.  The  village  of  Bergen  which  sprang  up  was  of  pure  Dutch 
stock,  and  the  inhabitants  set  themselves  from  the  first  to  provide  a 
church  and  a  school  for  their  community.  The  school  at  first  was  under 
the  care  and  patronage  of  the  church.  The  consistory  appointed  the 
schoolm.'jster,  who  served  also  as  catechist.'  The  instruction  was,  of 
course,  in  the  Dutch  language  until  the  influx  of  English  and  the  pre- 
ponderance of  English  interests  led  to  the  change  to  the  English  lan- 
guage. 

In  1790  a  large  brownstone  building  was  erected  for  what  became 
the  academy.  A  charter  had  been  obtained  for  an  institution  to  be 
named  the  "Bergen  Columbia  Academy."  The  trustees  of  this  acad- 
emy took  possession  of  the  lands  which  in  the  early  grant  had  been  set 
apart  for  the  support  of  schools.  These  lands  the  trustees  in  part 
leased  and  in  jmrt  sold  and  invested  the  proceeds  in  interest-bearing 
securities  for  the  benefit  of  the  academy. 

In  1813  the  school  trustees  of  the  township  of  Bergen  made  a  claim 
for  these  school  lands,  as  belonging  to  the  town  and  not  to  a  private 
corporation.  After  a  prolonged  controversy  the  trustees  of  the  acad- 
emy ceded  to  the  township  not  only  the  school  lands  remaining  unsold, 
but  also  the  invested  funds  derived  from  the  lauds  which  they  had 
sold,  and  the  academy  building  and  furniture.  From  that  time,  there- 
fore, the  academy  became  the  free  school  of  the  township  of  Bergen. 
No  other  academy  has  sprung  up  to  take  the  place  of  the  Columbia 
Academy,  which,  however,  in  its  day  was  a  notably  successful  school 
of  secondary  instruction. 

Two  distinguished  schools  have  existed  in  Hackensack,  which  was 
one  of  the  early  settlements  of  Bergen  County.  One  of  these  was 
Lafayette  Academy  and  the  other  Washington  Academy.  The  former 
originated  in  1825,  when  trustees  appointed  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  part 
of  Hackensack  were  directed  to  establish  a  school  for  all  branches  of 
a  classical  education.  Ground  was  purchased,  and  a  building  was 
erected  for  the  proposed  academy,  and,  as  the  organization  coincided 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  65 

iu  time  with  the  visit  (18-9)  of  General  Lafayette  to  the  village  through 
which  he  had  marched  during  the  darkest  hours  of  the  Revolution, 
they  called  it  the  Lafayette  Academy.  This  was  maintained  as  an 
academy  until  1853,  when  it  was  sold  and  a  commodious  public  school 
erected  in  its  place. 

The  other  important  academy  was  the  Washington  Academy,  which 
was  founded  in  17G9.  It  is  believed  to  have  sprung  out  of  the  discus- 
sion in  reference  to  the  location  of  Queen's  College,  which  had  been 
chartered  in  17GC.  There  was  a  rivalry  between  New  Brunswick  and 
Hackeusack  for  the  establishment  of  the  college,  and  when  it  was  finally 
decided  in  favor  of  the  former  the  i^eopleof  Ilackensack  were  so  aroused 
in  reference  to  education  that  they  resolved  to  establish  an  academy  of 
a  very  superior  character. 

Mr.  Reinen  Van  Giesse  gave  the  land  for  the  site  and  the  other  citi- 
zens subscribed  the  funds,  with  which  they  builL  a  large  and  substan- 
tial building.  The  school  was  called  the  Washington  Academy.  For 
many  years  it  flourished  under  able  and  distinguished  teachers.  Peter 
Wilson,  a  learned  Scotchman,  who  came  to  America  to  escape  poverty 
and  religious  oppression,  was  the  first  principal.  Afterwards  he  was 
called  to  Columbia  College  as  i^rofessor  of  Greek,  where  he  distinguished 
himself.  During  liis  principalshi])  tliere  was  a  movement  to  obtain  a 
charter  as  a  college  for  the  Washington  Academy,  but  owing  to  the 
unwillingness  of  Mr.  Wilson  to  take  an  active  part  iu  it  the  design 
failed.  The  building  proving  inadequate  for  the  large  number  who 
desired  to  attend,  the  inhabitants,  in  1871,  resolved  to  tax  themselves 
for  the  erection  of  another.  The  trustees  of  Washington  xVcademy  sur- 
rendered their  charter  at  this  time  and  it  became  merged  in  the  i)ublic 
school  system  of  the  State,  and  was  thereafter  known  as  District  Xo. 
32  in  the  township  of  i^ew  Barbadoes. 

BURLINGTON    COTTNTY. 

The  first  grant '  of  land  in  New  Jersey  for  educational  purposes  was 
made  in  lG82,by  the  general  assembly,  to  the  town  of  Burlington.  The 
grant  covered  the  island  of  Matinicunck,  which  had  belonged  to  Robert 
Stacey;  and  it  is  a  tradition  in  Burlington  that  he  had  conveyed  it  to  ^ 
the  colony  of  West  Jersey  in  order  that  it  might  by  them  be  granted 
to  the  town  of  Burlington  for  school  purposes.  There  are  references 
to  this  found  in  the  records  of  the  town  at  various  times,  showing  that 
this  grant  has  been  carefully  and  honestly  used  for  the  purposes 
intended. 

The  object  aimed  at  by  the  schools  supported  by  the  island  grant  was 
of  course  only  elementary  education,  and  we  never  find  that  any  part 
of  the  proceeds  was  used  for  the  support  of  secondary  schools.  This 
latter  class  of  education  relied  on  private  benefactions,  and  Burlington 

'  See  Leamiug  &.  Spicer,  Colouial  Laws,  p.  465.     See  p.  19. 
20GS7— No.  23 o 


66  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NP:W    JERSEY. 

lias  been  the  chief  locality  in  the  county  where  higher  education  has 
received  any  considerable  development. 

The  institutions  of  higher  learning  in  Burlington  were  all  connected 
with  the  Episcoi)al  Church,  and  owe  their  origin  to  the  energy  and 
perseverance  of  Kev.  George  W,  Doane,  D.  D.,  the  bishop  of  New  Jer- 
sey. Almost  immediately  after  his  induction  into  the  bishopric  and 
his  settlement  in  his  see  at  Burlington  he  began  to  agitate  the  sub- 
ject of  founding  schools  of  learning  which  should  be  connected  with 
the  church  and  impart  to  the  attendants  a  Christian  education.  Bishop 
Doane  was  consecrated  in  1833,  and  in  1837  the  school  for  girls,  St. 
Mary's  Hall,  was  founded. 

ST.  Mary's  hall. 

This  important  school  is  still  in  an  active  and  prosperous  state  of 
existence,  and  has  verified  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  object  of  its 
founder. 

In  a  circular  addressed,  "To  all  who  bear  the  sacred  name  of 
daughter,  sister,  wife,  or  mother,  and  to  all  who  honor  it,"  he  earnestly 
appeals  in  behalf  of  this  school: 

The  1>est  teachers  in  every  department  of  science,  literatnre,  and  the  liue  arts 
jtroper  to  such  an  institntion  shall  be  procured,  and  every  possible  facility  shall  be 
afl'orded,  that  its  pupils,  duly  improving  their  opportunities,  may  become  well- 
instructed  and  accomplished  Christian  ladies.  *  *  *  of  the  situation,  edifices, 
and  "grounds  selected  for  tin-  institution,  which  is  the  subject  of  this  circular,  it 
would  be  dillicult  to  speak  in  terms  which  would  do  justice  to  them  without  the 
appearance  of  exaggeration.  The  position  on  the  Delaware,  a  little  more  than  an 
hour's  journey  by  steamboat  or  railroad  from  I'hiladelphia,  and  from  five  to  six 
hours  from  New  York,  is  unsurpassed  for  healthfulness,  convenience,  and  beauty. 
The  buildings,  nearly  new,  and  built  expressly  for  a  female  semiuary,  are  extensive 
and  perfectly  coniraodius,  with  spacious  grounds,  a  well-cultivated  garden  and  green- 
house. The  schoolrooms  are  of  the  best  construction,  light,  airy,  and  agreeable; 
and  the  whole  establishmcut  is  fitted  up  and  furnished  in  the  best  manner,  and  will 
be  supplied  with  fixtures  and  apparatus  of  every  kind,  adapted  to  the  most  extended 
course  of  female  education.' 

This  institution  was  founded  as  a  stock  corporation,  the  shares  of 
which  amounted  to  $L'5,(K)().  This  sum  was  to  be  expended  in  the  pur- 
chase of  buildings,  grounds,  furniture,  and  api)aratus.  The  stock  was 
to  bear  interest  at  (»  per  cent.  The  entire  control  and  management  of 
the  institution  were  put  into  the  hands  of  a  board  of  trustees  nomi- 
nated by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  time  being, 
and  appointed  by  the  stockholders,  the  bishop  being  ex  officio  the  presi- 
dent of  the  board.  The  shares  were  immediately  subscribed  for  and 
the  school  was  begun.  The  maintenance  of  the  school  was  dependent 
on  the  fees  paid  by  students;  but  so  favorably  received  was  it,  and  so 
acceptable  was  the  plan  of  imparting  a  Christian  education  to  the  chil- 
dren of  the  church,  that  from  its  very  beginning  it  had  a  remunerative 
patronage. 


l^r.  Hill's  History  of  the  Church  in  'Burlington,  p.  446. 


ACADEMIES  AND  SECONDARY  S(JHOOLS.  67 

We  leani  from  Dr.  Hills's  History  of  tlie  Church  of  Burlington  that 
the  ahminit  of  St.  Mary's  Hall  held  in  1875  a  reunion  on  the  anniver- 
sary of  Bishop  Doane's  birthday  (May  27).  The  event  was  one  of  great 
joy  and  felicity.  The  graduates  of  the  hall  in  great  numbers,  from  the 
earliest  years  of  the  school  to  the  latest,  gathered  in  the  ftimiliar  build- 
ings and  grounds  and  renewed  their  sweet  recollections  of  the  hall  and 
their  comrades  and  teachers. 

The  successive  principals  of  St.  Mary's  Hall  are  here  enumerated: 

Rev.  Asa  Eaton,  D.D... 1837  to  1839 

Rev.  Reuben  Isaac  C4ermaii),  M.  A 1839  to  1855 

Rev.  Daniel  Caldwell  Millett,  M.  A 1855  to  1857 

Rev.  Elvin  Keyser  Smith,  M.  A 1858  to 

BURLINGTON   COLLEGE. 

The  idea  of  establishing  a  college  at  Burlington  had  been  entertained 
from  an  early  period.  Bishop  Talbot,  who  was  consecrated  about  1722, 
writes  in  that  year  to  the  secretary  of  the  S.  P.  G. : 

The  society  had  better  never  have  bought  this  house,  *  *  *  ij^^  since  they 
have  bought  it  and  can  not  sell  it  again  for  the  worth,  they  had  better  make  a  free 
school  or  collejie;  it  is  very  well  contrived  for  that  purpose.  »  *  *  Something 
of  a  college  must  be  had  here;  the  sooner  the  better. 

Only  a  few  years  after  this,  in  1728,  Mr.  Daniel  Coxe,  who  acted  as 
agent  for  the  S.  P.  G.  in  New  Jersey,  writes  to  the  secretary: 

It  is  reported  here  and  in  the  neighboring  colonies  that  the  society  designed  to 
erect  a  college  on  some  part  of  the  Continent  of  America  for  the  educating  of  youth 
after  the  manner  as  is  practiced  in  the  University  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  but 
that  they  are  as  yet  unresolved  what  ]ilace  to  ])itch  upon  for  that  purpose. 

Mr.  Coxe  then  strongly  recommended  Burlington,  and  recites  at  great 
length  the  advantages  which  it  presents  for  such  a  purpose.     He  says: 

I  should  with  great  respect  and  submission  advise  for  and  give  the  preference  to 
New  Jersey,  and  particularly  to  that  spot  of  ground  where  the  society's  house  now 
stands  at  the  point  of  Burlington,  which,  without  exaggeration  or  partiality,  I  dare 
aver  to  be  the  most  pleasant  and  healthy  situation  of  any  place  I've  yet  beheld  in 
America,  and  will  not  submit  to  any  other  for  all  manner  of  conveniencys  and  nec- 
essarys  of  life.  ' 

It  was  not,  however,  till  long  after  these  prescient  views  that  the 
college  was  really  founded.  In  the  Episcopal  address  for  1846  Bishop 
Doane  informed  his  diocese  that  a  charter  had  been  granted  by  the 
legislature  for  the  incorporation  of  Burlington  College.  The  charter  is 
dated  1840.  The  bishop  announces  tliat  arrangements  are  in  jDrogress 
for  opening  the  i)reparatory  school,  as  a  nursery  for  the  college,  on  the 
1st  of  November  next,  under  the  most  promising  auspices;  that  the 
trustees  have  purchased  a  very  eligible  site,  and  are  disposed  to  make 
the  most  liberal  arrangements  for  the  institution.     *     *     *     He  adds: 

I  regard  the  establishment  of  Burlington  College  as  certain  to  give  vigor  and 
influence  to  other  institutions.     People  resort  for  everything  to  the  place  where  they 

'  Dr.  Hill's  History  of  the  Church  in  Burlington,  yt.  239. 


68  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

can  find  the  best  supply.  Multiply  good  schools  in  New  Jersey  aud  you  increase 
the  flow  of  scholars  iu  proportion.  Let  the  college  of  the  diocese  be  established  in 
o-eneral  confidence  as  an  accepted  reservoir  where  men  resort  to  (lueuch  the  noble 
rage  for  science,  aud  there  and  similar  places  will  be  sought  with  au  eager  joy,  as 
fountains  among  palm  trees,  to  refresh  them  by  the  way.' 

The  schools  of  the  church  at  Ikirlingtou,  iuchidiug  the  college,  are 
warmly  referred  to  in  the  Episcopal  address  of  1848.  The  bishop 
si)eaks  of  them  thus : 

Burlington  College  is  intended  for  the  training  up  of  i>astor8.  It  is  designed  as  a 
central  home  for  missionary  deacons,  ^yhen,  in  a  few  years  more,  these  purposes 
shall  be  fulfilled  the  diocese  will  have  no  want  of  clergy  of  a  pro]ier  spirit.  There 
are  already  there  five  priests  and  six  young  meu  preparing  for  the  ministry.  Ten 
years,  with  God  to  bless  us,  will  double  from  that  source  alone  the  present  number 
of  our  clergy.  *  *  *  Nearly  300  children  are  gathered  now  at  Burlington.  They 
come  from  every  quarter  of  the  land.  They  meet  as  in  a  common  home.  They  are 
knit  together  in  the  bonds  of  a  mutual  love.  They  will  disperse  with  false  impres- 
sions corrected,  with  prej  udices  removed,  with  attachments  formed,  with  affections 
mutually  won. 

The  first  auuual  commencetaeut  of  Burliugtou  College  was  held  iu 
1850.  Only  a  small  class  was  then  graduated,  but  among  them  was 
an  unusual  number  of  names  that  have  since  become  conspicuous. 
There  were  only  five,  but  among  them  were  George  Hobart  Doane,  now 
Monsignor  Doane.  of  the  Catholic  Church;  William  Crosswell  Doane, 
now  bishop  of  Albany;  George  McCuUoch  Miller,  now  a  distinguished 
layman  of  'New  York  Citj'. 

The  college  continued  in  operation  till  18i)0.  The  members  grad- 
uated were  as  follows:  1850,  five;  1851,  six;  1852, fourteen ;  1853, seven; 
1854,  sis;  1855,  three;  1850,  four;  1857,  four;  1858,  four;  1859,  none, 
and  1860,  two.  The  operations  of  the  collegiate  department  were  then 
suspended  and  no  further  graduations  have  since  been  made.  The 
cause  of  this  suspension  was  the  want  of  any  sufficient  endowment. 
Had  the  eloquent  and  energetic  founder  been  spared,  he  would  have 
succeeded,  no  doubt,  in  placing  the  infant  college  on  a  permanent  and 
satisfactory  basis.  Bishops  Odenheinier  and  Scarborough,  the  suc- 
cessors of  Bishop  Doane,  at  various  times  made  renewed  efforts  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  the  college.  But  colleges,  as  tliey  are  hard  to 
kill,  so  they  are  hard  to  revive  when  they  have  become  moribund.  In 
1801  Bishop  Odenheimer  in  a  pastoral  letter  says: 

As  St.  Mary's  Hall  was  designed  for  the  education  of  our  daughters,  so  Burlington 
College  was  planned  to  give  our  sons  a  thorough  preparatory  and  university  train- 
ing. This  latter  institution  has  never  been  adequately  sustained  by  practical  sym- 
pathy aud  support.  *  *  *  Its  discipline  aud  course  of  study  bear  the  impress  of 
large  experience  aud  elegant  scholarship,  and  are  perfect  for  all  the  purposes  of  the 
highest  collegiate  and  Christian  culture ;  and  there  is  only  wanted  the  conscientious 
interest  of  the  churchmen  of  New  Jersey  to  make  the  institution  in  fact  what  in  its 
theory  it  was  designed  to  be  by  its  founder. 


'  Dr.  Hill's  History  of  the  Church  in  Burlington,  p.  485. 


ACADEMIES  AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS.  69 

A  committee  appointed  by  the  diocese  reported  in  1862  in  the  same 
spirit.     In  part,  this  committee  says: 

But  your  committee  notice  the  waut  of  patronage  and  interest  given  to  these 
schools  from  this  diocese.  Under  the  immediate  and  constant  supervision  of  the 
hisliop,  reflecting  its  highest  honor  upon  the  church  of  New  Jersey,  yet  the  propor- 
tion of  pupils  from  our  own  State  is  not  large. 

In  1869  a  new  movement  was  made  in  behalf  of  the  college.  It  had 
been  proposed  to  erect  a  monument  for  Bishop  Doane,  and  for  this  end 
a  considerable  fund  had  been  subscribed.  But  now  it  was  determined 
to  direct  this  monument  fund  to  the  endowment  of  a  professorship  of 
ancient  languages  and  to  name  it  in  honor  of  Bishop  Doane.  A  com- 
mittee of  eminent  graduates  undertook  to  collect  additional  funds  for 
this  purpose,  and  Bisho])  Odenheimer  gave  to  it  his  hearty  sanction. 

In  1870,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  bishop,  the  divinity  department  of 
the  college  was  resumed  with  a  volunteer  set  of  professors.  This  and 
the  preparatory  department  have  continued  to  the  present. 

We  give  below  the  names  of  the  successive  rectors  of  Burlington 
College : 

Rev.  Benjamin  Isaac  Haiglit,  M.  A 1846  to  1849 

Rev.  James  Watson  Bradin,  M.  A 1849  to  1851 

Rev.  Marcus  Ferris  Hyde,  M.  A 1851  to  1851 

Rev.  Moses  Parsous  Stickney,  M.  A 1851  to  1852 

Rev.  Edward  Purdon  Wright,  B.  A 1852  to  1853 

Rev.  John  Lee  Watson,  D.  D 1853  to  1854 

Rev.  Hobart  Chetwood,  B.  D 1856  to  1858 

Rev.  Edward  Miles  Pecke,  M.  A 1858  to  1859 

Rev.  Horatio  Thomas  Wells,  M.  A 1859  to  1860 

Rev.  John  Breckinridge  Gibson,  M.  A 1860  to  1866 

Rev.  Anthony  Ten  Broeck,  D.  D 1866  to  1879 

Rev.  Charles  Thompson  Kellogg,  M.  A 1870  to  1872 

Rev.  Joseph  Clerk,  D.D 1872  to 

MOUNT   HOLLY. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  prosperous  of  the  early  settlements  of 
West  Jersey.  The  first  settlers  were  Friends,  and  schools  were  begun 
by  them  almost  as  soon  as  their  meetinghouses.  The  first  movement 
for  anything  higher  than  a  common  school  education  was  made  in  1810.' 
A  company  was  formed  who  organized  a  school,  which  went  by  the 
name  of  the  Academy.  In  this  was  imparted  an  education  which  could 
hardly  be  called  secondary,  but  which  was  sui^erior  to  that  which  was 
imparted  in  the  ordinary  church  schools.  Joseph  Lancaster,  the  edu- 
cational reformer,  introduced  his  system  of  teaching.  Besides  the 
Academy,  several  other  schools  have  at  various  times  been  conducted. 
The  Baquet  Institute,  begun  about  1847,  was  a  school  for  girls.  A 
private  school  was  begun  in  1851  by  Mr.  William  L.  Kelly,  which 
became  a  good  prej)aratory  school  for  classics  and  mathematics. 

There  is  now  in  Mount  Holly  a  high  school  conducted  as  a  part  of 
the  imblic  school  system. 


70  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 


There  is  at  tliis  town  the  school  called  the  Farnum  Preparatory 
School.  The  buildings  were  erected  in  1855  by  Mr.  Paul  Farnum  with 
the  purpose  and  expectation  that  they  would  be  the  home  of  the  State 
normal  school.  But  the  legislature  directed  that  the  normal  school 
should  be  located  at  Trenton,  and  adopted  Mr,  Faruum's  school  as  a 
preparatory  school  for  the  normal  school.  A  fuller  account  of  it  will 
be  found  in  connection  with  the  normal  school  in  Mercer  County. 

Bordentowii  is  an  old  settlement  on  the  east  side  of  the  Delaware 
River.  The  early  schools  were,  of  course,  elementary  in  their  charac- 
ter, but  in  later  times  the  town  has  become  noted  as  a  seat  of  secondary 
learning.  In  1778  an  academy  was  opened  by  Burgis  Allison.  He  was 
a  scholarly  man,  and  is  said  to  have  been  familiar  with  several  lan- 
guages. He  had  also  a  turn  for  mechanical  contrivances,  and  con- 
structed with  his  own  hands  most  of  the  apparatus  which  he  required 
for  his  experiments. 

It  was  at  Bordentown  also  that  Madame  Murat,  the  wife  of  Prince 
Murat,  who  had  been  obliged  to  become  a  refugee  in  America,  in  1840 
established  a  private  school  for  the  education  of  young  ladies. 

Eev.  Samuel  Edwin  Arnold,  an  English  clergyman,  who  for  a  time 
had  charge  of  a  school  at  Freehold,  established  about  1834  a  school 
for  the  education  of  boys.  This  school  was  prosperous  and  successful ; 
but  Mr.  Arnold  only  continued  to  conduct  it  for  a  short  time,  when 
he  retired  from  its  management,  and  the  school  was  closed. 

In  1851  Rev.  John  H.  Brakeley  begun  a  female  seminary,  which  was 
incorporated  two  years  later  under  the  name,  which  it  still  bears,  of  the 
Bordentown  Female  College.  Dr.  Brakeley  continued  to  administer 
the  affairs  of  this  college  till  1875,  when  it  came  into  the  hands  of  Rev. 
William  C.  Bowen,  who  has  continued  to  manage  it  with  great  success. 
It  has  become  a  female  school  of  importance,  which  draws  students 
from  a  wide  territory.  The  subjects  of  study  are  such  as  are  pursued 
in  most  female  colleges,  except  that  no  Greek  is  in  the  curriculum. 
Music  and  art  are  pursued  with  special  attention. 

The  Xew  Jersey  Collegiate  Institute  was  begun  as  a  French  school 
for  young  ladies.  It  was  incorporated  in  1868,  and  in  1881  Eev.  Wil- 
liam C.  Bowen  bought  it  with  the  puri)Ose  of  creating  it  a  military 
school  for  boys.  It  is  conducted  under  military  discipline,  and  has  had 
uniform  success.  It  has  three  courses  of  study,  namely:  (1)  Academic, 
in  which  the  studies  are  English,  mathematical,  and  scientific,  with 
Latin,  French,  and  German  as  electives;  (2)  scientific,  including 
English,  mathematical,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  scientific  studies, 
and  the  same  electives  as  before;  (3)  classical,  including  English  and 
matliematical  studies,  together  with  the  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and 
German  as  electives.    The  present  principal  is  Eev.  Thomas  H.  Landon. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  71 

Besides  these  more  important  iustitutious  there  are  a  number  of 
private  schools  iu  Avhich  much  of  the  education  is  of  a  secondary- 
character. 

The  Friends'  Academy  at  Moorestown,  near  Camden,  is  a  prosperous 
institution.  The  following  statistics  are  taken  from  the  Eeport  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  for  1894-95. 

Name  of  school,  Friends' High  School;  principal,  J.  W.Gregg;  numher  ofiustruct- 
ors,  3;  number  of  secondary  students,  39;  number  of  elementary  students,  41; 
volumes  in  library,  150;  value  of  building  and  ground,  $5,090. 

CAMDEN   COUNTY. 

The  history  of  education  in  Camden  County  is  in  general  the  same 
as  that  throughout  West  Jersey.  Education  began  with  the  first  immi- 
gration of  the  Friends  into  the  territory.  In  every  place  where  a 
meeting  house  was  erected  a  school  was  also  begun — sometimes  in  a 
separate  building,  but  more  frequently  in  the  meeting  house  itself. 
The  first  school  was  established  in  1082,  near  tbe  old  ]S"ewton  meeting 
house.  It  was  built  of  logs  and  had  only  a  clay  lioor.  The  teacher  in 
this  humble  building  was  Thomas  Sharp,  a  young  Friend. 

A  second  school  was  established  in  1715  in  the  home  of  Jonathan 
Bolton,  near  Haddonfield.  This,  also,  was  an  elementary  school,  and 
was  maintained  by  the  Friends. 

In  1750  the  Scotch-Irish,  who  had  begun  a  thriving  settlement  at 
Blackwood,  erected  a  schoolhouse  for  the  benefit  of  the  settlement. 
The  earliest  teachers  in  this  Presbyterian  school  were  named  Thackara, 
who  were  Friends.  Subsequently  schools  were  established  in  various 
places  as  they  Avere  required  by  the  growing  settlements.  As  the 
country  became  more  thickly  settled  and  the  people  more  prosperous 
and  wealthy,  better  schoolhouses  were  required.  The  log  schoolhouse 
gave  place  to  the  frame ;  glass  windows  were  introduced ;  and,  in 
modern  times,  in  all  the  more  prosperous  towns,  the  schoolhouse  came 
to  be  built  t)f  brick. 

All  these  early  schools  were  pay  schools.  Parents  paid  a  certain  fee 
for  each  scholar  iu  attendance.  Usually  the  fee  was  about  3  cents  a 
day  for  ench  pupil.  Mr.  F.  K.  Brace,  former  county  superintendent,  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  most  of  these  details,  says  in  his  chapter  on 
education  in  the  History  of  Camden  County,  tliat — 

the  pupils  in  the  schools  in  those  days  were  not  classilied  except  in  reading  and 
spelling,  and  the  classes  in  reading  were  so  numerous  that  almost  the  whole  fore- 
noon was  occupied  in  hearing  them.  The  schools  were  kept  open  three  months 
in  some  places  and  the  whole  year  in  others,  the  average  time  being  about  six 
months.     »     *     * 

The  requirement  of  a  fee  for  attendance  necessarily  prevented  poor 
people  from  sending  their  children.  But  the  improvement  iu  the  State 
school  laws  was  rapidly  taken  advantage  of,  and  the  common  schools 
of  Camden  County  have  advanced  to  a  place  equal  to  any  in  tbe  State. 


72  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATIOX    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  only  institutions  of  secondary  education  which  appear  in  the 
History  of  Camden  County  are  the  Camden  'Academy  and  the  Glouces- 
ter High  School.  The  latter  was  founded  in  1803  and  was  conducted 
with  varying  success  for  many  years.' 

The  ])ublic-school  system  has  been  energetically  pushed  and  has  sup- 
plied most  of  the  educational  wants  of  the  city.  The  immediate  prox- 
imity of  Philadelj^hia,  with  its  excellent  schools  of  all  kinds,  has  been, 
no  doubt,  the  reason  that  Camden  did  not  develop  institutions  of  a 
high  grade.  In  the  meantime,  the  wants  of  the  community  in  their 
ordinary  aspect  have  been  well  ■  supplied  by  the  numerous  excellent 
public  schools  which  have  from  time  to  time  been  established.  As  a 
part  of  this  system  a  liigh  school  has  been  begun,  which  is  reported 
to  be  in  a  prosperous  condition. 

CAPE   MAT   COUNTY. 

There  are  no  schools  of  secondary  grade  in  Cape  May  County.  The 
public  schools  are  of  a  substantial  character,  but  are  all  of  the  elemen- 
tary grade.  This  county  extends  far  into  the  ocean,  and  the  inhabitants 
are  largely  devoted  to  fishing. 

CUMBERLAND   COUNTY. 

The  chief  educational  institution  in  Cumberland  County  is  the  West 
Jersey  Academy-  at  Bridgeton.  The  first  movement  toward  its  estab- 
lishment was  made  by  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Beach  Jones,  who  in  1850  pre- 
sented to  tlie  West  Jersey  Presbyter}^  a  written  memorial  recommending 
to  this  body  the  founding  of  a  high  grade  academy  within  its  bounds. 
The  recommendation  was  adopted  and  the  Presbytery  appointed  the 
first  board  of  trustees.  This  board  took  steps  immediately  to  appeal 
for  funds  wiih  whi(-h  to  erect  a  building  and  start  the  designed  school. 
They  proposed  to  raise  $10,000,  on  the  condition  that  no  subscription 
should  be  binding  until  88,000  were  subscribed.  The  contributions 
toward  this  sum  came  in  very  slowly;  so  that  in  two  years  thereafter — 
that  is,  in  1852— only  a  trifle  over  the  $8,000  had  been  subscribed. 
Meanwhile  an  act  of  incorporation  had  been  obtained  and  a  site  pro- 
visionally purchased.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  in  August,  1852,  and 
in  due  time  the  building  was  completed.  The  school  was  opened  in 
1854.  From  insufficient  means  the  academy  had  for  a  time  a  struggle 
for  existence.  It  was  closed  for  a  number  of  years,  but  has  been 
reopened  under  better  auspices.  The  present  principal  is  Phoebus  W. 
Lyon,  A.  M.  It  is  conducted  as  a  military  school,  the  State  military 
authorities  furnishing  the  necessary  arms  and  accouterments. 

'  Tlie  Gloucester  Higli  Scliool  is  reported  iu  tlie  Report  of  the  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Education  for  1892-93,  as  liaviuj^-  4  teachers  and  20  scholars  in  the 
secondary  grade.     William  Dougherty  has  heeu  for  many  years  the  principal. 

nVo  are  indebte<l  to  Principal  Phoehus  W.  Lyou  for  the  facts  conccrniug  the  West 
Jersey  Academy,  which  he  recited  iu  a  paper  read  at  the  centennial  anniversary  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Bridgeton  in  1892. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCflOOLS,  73 

The  departments  of  study  taugbt  in  the  school  are  Latiu,  Greek, 
moderu  languages,  matlieraatics,  and  English.  It  is  like  nearly  all 
schools  of  its  class — both  a  college  preparatory  school  and  also  a  busi- 
ness school.  In  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Education  for  1892-93  it  is  returned  as  having  7  teachers  and  78 
scholars  in  its  secondary  department.  Twelve  students  were  graduated 
from  a  four  years'  course  in  1895. 

SOUTH   ,1EKSEY    INSTITUTE. 

This  school  was  established  in  1865  by  the  West  New  Jersey  Baptist 
Association.  It  was  incorporated  in  1866.  Baptist  friends  in  Bridge- 
ton  gave  $10,000  on  condition  that  it  should  be  located  there.  Build- 
ings, grounds,  and  furniture  were  i^rocured  at  a  cost  of  more  than 
$50,000.  The  debt  left  on  the  school  after  the  completion  of  its  build- 
ing was  wiped  out  during  the  centennial  year  (1876).  It  is  a  school 
for  both  boys  and  girls.  In  1892-93  it  was  reported  as  having  14  teach- 
ers and  176  scholars  in  the  secondary  grade.  Thirty-two  scholars  were 
graduated  in  1893. 

Besides  these  schools  there  is  also  the  Ivy  Hall  School,  a  seminary 
for  young  ladies,  established  in  1859  by  Mrs.  Margaretta  Sheppard,  and 
which  with  some  untoward  vicissitudes  has  continued  to  this  day. 

In  the  borough  of  Vineland  there  has  always  been  an  active  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  good  schools.  As  an  important  part  of  the  public 
school  system  the  Vineland  High  School  was  established  in  1870.  It 
was  formed  by  the  consolidation  of  three  separate  school  districts,  and 
comprises  within  one  building  not  only  a  department  of  secondary 
learning,  but  also  subordinate  departments.  It  contained  in  1892-03 
3  teachers  and  116  scholars — boys  and  girls — in  the  secondary  grade. 
Twenty-one  persons  were  graduated  in  1893.  H.  J.  Wightmau  was  at 
that  time  the  principal. 

ESSEX  COUNTY. 

Few  counties  in  the  State  have  had  a  more  interesting  educational 
history  than  Essex,  in  which  the  city  of  Newark  is  situated.  Settled, 
as  it  was,  by  intelligent  and  freedom-loving  emigrants  from  New  Eng- 
land, it  was  one  of  the  centers  of  education  and  spread  its  influence 
in  every  direction.  We  have  given  on  a  preceding  page  an  account  of 
the  general  educational  progress  of  Newark  and  its  surroundings.  It 
remains  here  to  give  a  fuller  account  of  the  institutions  of  secondary 
education,  which  have  given  them  a  distinctive  prominence  in  the 
State. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  the  advanced  schools  in  Newark  was  that 
begun  by  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  then  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  town.  It  was  designed  by  the  pastor  as  an  aid  to  his  work 
in  his  church.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  and  was  a  man 
of  scholarly  tastes  and  habits.  He  gave  whatever  time  he  could  spare 
from  his  i^astoral  duties  to  the  work  of  teaching  in  this  school.    The 


74  HISTORY    OF   EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

cbief  object  was  to  give  a  higher  tiaiuiug  than  could  be  obtained  ia 
common  schools,  and  particularly  to  prepareclever  lads  for  college. 

A  charter  for  the  College  of  I^ew  Jersey  had  been  granted  in  1746, 
and  Dr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  of  Elizabeth,  had  been  appointed  presi- 
dent. The  college  was  opened  in  connection  with  a  classical  school 
conducted  by  Dr.  Dickinson.  But,  in  consequence  of  his  dejfth  in  1747, 
the  infant  college  was  removed  to  Newark  and  put  under  the  care  of 
llev.  Aaron  Burr,  who  had  begun  a  classical  school  as  above  stated. 
When  in  1756  the  college  was  permanently  removed  to  Princeton,  Dr. 
Burr,  as  president,  went  with  it,  and  his  classical  school  at  Newark  was 
abandoned. 

As  early  as  1774  land  had  been  granted  for  a  Latin  grammar  school 
and  a  stone  building  had  been  erected  for  the  a'^commodatiou  of  a  day 
school  and  for  the  lodging  of  those  who  might  wish  to  live  at  the  school. 
This  building  was  destroyed  in  1780  by  a  British  foraging  party,  and 
no  steps  were  taken  to  renew  it  until  1792.  At  this  latter  date  an  asso- 
ciation was  formed  for  the  erection  of  a  classical  school,  which  has  since 
been  known  as  the  Newark  Academy.'  A  site  was  bought  and  a  build- 
ing was  erected.  St.  John's  Lodge  of  Masons  united  in  the  erection  of 
this  building  on  condition  that  the  third  story  should  forever  belong  to 
them  for  a  lodge  room.  The  association  above  referred  to  was  incor- 
l)orated  in  1795,  and  Kev.  Dr.  Alexander  McWhorter,  the  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  was  made  president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

The  trustees  endeavored  to  obtain  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment some  remuneration  for  the  destruction  of  the  old  academy  build- 
ing by  the  British,  but  without  success.  Some  difficulty  was  experi- 
enced in  procuring  funds  for  the  construction  of  the  building.  For  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  relief  the  trustees  petitioned  the  legislature  for 
leave  to  hold  a  lottery  for  the  benefit  of  the  academy.  This  was  granted, 
and  commissioners  were  named  to  arrange  for  drawiug  a  lottery  not  to 
exceed  £800.  Another  notable  subscription  was  that  of  a  man  who 
gave  as  his  contribution  a  negro  man  called  James.  One  of  the  trus- 
tees, Kev.  Dr.  Azal  Ogden,-was  authorized  to  sell  him  "for  as  much 
money  as  he  would  sell  for"  and  to  turn  in  the  amount  to  the  academy. 
This  he  did,  and  the  academy  got  £40. 

During  an  early  period  of  the  academy— 1802  to  1809— both  boys 
and  girls  were  received  as  students.  But  at  the  latter  date  the  two 
departments  were  separated  and  a  principal  was  employed  for  each, 
llev.  Samuel  Whelpley  Mas  appointed  principal  of  the  male  depart- 
ment and  Mr.  Timothy  Alden  principal  of  the  female  department. 
The  female  department  was,  however,  not  continued. 


'  In  January,  1892,  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  Newark  Academy  was  cele- 
bratfd,  and  many  of  the  facts  here  stated  are  taken  from  the  report  in  the  Newark 
Daily  Advertiser  of  an  historical  address  delivered  on  the  occasion  by  William  R. 
Weeks,  esri.  Atkinson's  History  of  Newark  and  William  H.  Shaw's  History  of  Essex 
Connty  have  also  been  consulted. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  75 

In  1855  the  academy  was  reiucorporated,  the  stock  to  be  nontaxable. 
For  two  years  at  this  time  a  female  department  was  maintained.  But 
this  was  again  abandoned,  and  since  that  time  the  academy  has  been 
conducted  only  as  a  school  for  boys. 

The  present  principal,  Samual  A.  Farrand,  Ph.  D.,  began  his  services 
in  the  academy  in  1859.  He  continued  till  1865,  when  he  resigned,  but 
returned  in  1875,  and  has  since  remained.  The  academy  contains 
departments  for  preparing  lads  for  college,  for  scientific  schools,  and 
for  a  business  life. 

The  Newark  Seminary  is  a  private  school  for  females,  which  is 
reported  in  the  Eeport  of  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education 
(1892-03)  as  being  under  the  charge  of  Miss  Whitmore  as  principal. 
It  has  3  teachers  and  30  scholars  in  its  secondary  grade. 

The  Newark  High  School,  which  was  established  in  1855,  is  an  insti- 
tution of  a  sterling  character  and  is  doing  much  for  the  educational 
advancement  of  the  city.  To  John  Whitehead,  F.  W.  Eicord,  and 
Stephen  Conger  the  city  is  chiefly  indebted  for  this  topmost  institution 
of  their  public  instruction.  Isaiah  Peckham,  still  living,  was  the  first 
principal;  and  the  present  principal,  who  has  held  the  office  for  twenty- 
five  years,  is  E.  A.  Hovey.  This  school  has  nearly  30  teachers  and  1,129 
scholars  in  all  departments.  In  1895  there  were  graduated  69  persons 
from  a  four  years'  course  and  34  from  a  two  years'  commercial  course. 
About  80  boys  and  65  girls  are  reported  as  preparing  for  college.  The 
value  of  the  present  grounds,  buildings,  and  equipments  is  given  as 
about  $75,000.  As  these  are  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  school,  a 
new  high-school  building  is  to  be  erected,  for  which  a  site  has  already 
been  bought  and  the  city  has  appropriated  $300,000. 

The  Oranges,  situated  on  the  beautiful  hills  west  of  Newark,  have 
always  been  a  thriving  and  picturesque  region.  No  large  cities  have 
grown  up  among  these  hills,  but  the  whole  territory  is  almost  one  con- 
tinuous suburban  settlement.  The  ground  covered  by  Essex  County 
includes  the  townships  of  Orange  City,  South  Orange,  West  Orange, 
and  East  Orange.  The  settlers  in  this  region  were  mostly  of  the  same 
nativity  and  characteristics  as  those  of  their  neighbors  at  Newark  and 
Elizabeth. 

An  academy  was  probably  established  in  what  is  the  city  of  Orange 
about  1785;  that  is,  just  subsequent  to  the  war  of  independence.  This 
school  was  only  a  private  school  designed  for  the  children  of  those  who 
could  pay.  It  Is  doubtful  if  it  was  in  any  respect  what  might  be  called 
a  secondary  school.  In  1823  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Orange  estab- 
lished a  school  which  also  was  called  an  academy,  but  which  was  really 
only  a  parochial  school,  in  which  the  children  of  the  i)oor  were  educated 
gratuitously,  while  those  who  could  aftbrd  it  paid  tuition  fees.  The  sub- 
jects taught,  besides  the  common  elements,  were  "  English  and  the 
learned  languages,  the  arts,  and  sciences."  In  this  school  many  influ- 
ential men  were  taught  and  prepared  for  college. 


76  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

In  1847  the  Brick  Cliurcli  Young  Ladies'  Seminary  was  established. 
Its  purpose  was  to  give  a  liberal  education  to"  the  young  women  of  the 
vicinity,  and  also  to  serve  as  a  boarding  school  for  those  who  might  be 
attracted  thither  from  a  distance.  This  school  continued  for  about  ten 
years  and  was  then  abandoned.  There  were  a  number  of  other  private 
schools  which,  in  a  certain  way,  were  secondary  schools.  But  the 
advent  of  the  public  school  to  a  great  extent  destroyed  the  necessity  for 
l)rivate  schools  and  academies.  The  high  school,  which  was  established 
as  a  part  of  the  public-school  system,  is  now  almost  the  only  institution 
where  secondary  iustruction  is  imparted.  It  is  situated  at  South 
Orange,  in  connection  with  one  of  the  public  schools,  and,  according  to 
the  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1892-93, 
had  2  teachers  and  42  scholars.  In  the  preceding  year  it  graduated  6 
students  and  had  2  preparing  for  college. 

In  Montclair  there  were  several  early  schools  which,  besides  giving 
elementary  instruction,  were  also  designed  to  teach  subjects  prepara- 
tory for  college.  These  were  chiefly  conne(!ted  with  the  churches,  and 
generally  the  instruction  in  higher  branches  was  given  by  the  pastors, 
A  high  school  was  begun  in  18G0,  which  rapidly  developed  into  an 
important  secondary  school.  In  1866  improvements  were  made  in  the 
building  and  in  the  facilities  for  instruction.  In  1892-93  this  high 
school  was  reported  as  having  7  teachers  and  207  scholars  in  the 
secondary  grade.  Twenty  persons  were  graduated  from  the  school 
during  the  i)receding  year. 

The  Montclair  Military  Academy  is  a  private  school  of  a  high  char- 
acter. It  is  chiefly  a  boarding  school,  and  the  studies  are  such  as  are 
fitted  to  prepare  lads  for  college  or  for  business  careers.  It  is  con- 
ducted as  a  military  school,  and  the  grounds  and  buildings  are  well 
adapted  for  the  military  and  academic  purposes.  There  is  a  jmmary 
and  kindergarten  department,  which  is  situated  in  a  separate  building. 
The  principal  of  this  school  is  J.  G.  MacVicar,  A.  M.,  and  with  him  are 
associated  6  other  instructors.  The  attendance  is  about  70,  of  whom 
about  10  are  in  the  priumry  and  kindergarten  department. 

The  proximity  of  Bloomfield  to  Newark  and  Orange  led  to  an  early 
and  considerable  development  in  the  direction  of  education.  Like 
these  settlements,  Bloomfield  had  its  early  schools  associated  with  the 
churches.  The  first  academy  was  started  in  1807.  Dr.  Charles  E. 
Knox,  in  his  history  of  Bloomfield  Township,  contributed  to  the  history 
of  Essex  County,  says  that  "it  seems  in  its  highest  days  quite  to  have 
surpassed  in  reputation  the  academies  of  Newark  and  of  Orange,  whose 
origin  preceded."  It  was  built  on  the  stock  plan,  and  of  course  tuition 
fees  were  charged.  The  immediate  object  of  its  establishment  was  the 
training  of  young  men  for  the  ministry.  In  its  palmy  days  the  acad- 
emy had  in  its  classical  department  from  30  to  40  young  men  of  mature 
age.  At  one  time  this  school  was  the  principal  seminary  of  learning  in 
this  part  of  the  State. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  77 

It  was  conducted  from  181G  to  1826  by  Rev.  Ainzi  Armstrong  as  a 
private  school,  but  at  the  latter  date  it  Avas  transferred  to  the  Presby- 
terian Education  Society.  The  building,  after  liaving  passed  through 
many  changes  of  administration,  was  sold  to  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  German  Theological  School.  It  is  still  in  use  by  them  for  their 
seminary,  with  its  academic  and  theological  departments. 

Female  education  received  a  powerful  stimulus  by  the  seminary  con- 
ducted by  Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Cooke.  It  was  begun  in  1836  and  conducted 
by  her,  and  later  by  herself  and  her  son.  She  died  in  1861.  She  states 
in  her  Memories  of  My  Life  Work  that  1,850  pu})ils  were  trained  by  her. 

As  in  other  localities,  the  growth  of  the  public-school  system  drew 
away  interest  from  the  academies  and  private  schools.  A  high  school 
was  established  in  1872  and  is  still  conducted  with  the  usual  curricu- 
lum, including  the  studies  preparatory  to  entering  college  and  the 
branches  fitted  for  a  business  life. 

THE    GERMAN   THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOL. 

This  institution'  of  theological  learning  was  begun  in  1861  with  the 
object  of  training  young  men  for  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  among  the  Germans  of  the  country.  Kev.  Charles  E.  Knox, 
I).  B.,  is  its  president.  In  respect  both  to  its  professors  and  its  directors 
the  school  is  subject  for  its  approval  to  the  general  assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  It  was  begun  at  first  in  the  city  of  Kewark, 
where  the  German  aud  American  pastors  were  the  only  instructors. 
But  in  1872  the  property  of  the  old  Bloomfield  Academy  was  purchased 
and  the  institution  began  its  regular  career.  It  retained  and  still 
retains  its  original  name,  "  The  German  Theological  School  of  Newark, 
New  Jersey."  Of  course  the  first  object  is  to  train  young  men  for  the 
ministry  among  the  Germans;  but  as  a  preparation  for  this  theological 
training  an  academical  department  is  also  maintained  where  classical, 
mathematical,  and  scientific  studies  are  i)ursued. 

There  is  a  small  endowment,  including  the  value  of  the  buildings  and 
grounds,  the  foundation  of  a  professorship,  and  of  a  scholarship.  The 
expenses  of  its  management^  when  not  met  by  this  endowment,  are 
l^rovided  for  by  individual  and  church  contribution. 

We  take  from  the  last  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Education,  referring  to  the  academic  year  1894-9.3,  the  following  statis- 
tics of  this  school : 

Name,  German  Theological  School  of  Newark;  church,  Presh.vteriau ;  president. 
Rev.  Charles  E,  Knox,  D.  D. ;  professors,  3;  special  instructors,  2;  students,  21; 
graduates,  5;  value  of  ground  and  buildings,  $25,000;  endowment  funds,  $53,000; 
volumes  in  library,  4,500. 

There  is  at  the  village  of  Summit  in  this  county  a  school  called  the 
Summit  Academy.     It  is  an  unincorporated  private  school,  whjch  was 

'The  facts  given  are  taken  chiefly  from  the  article  contributed  by  Prebidei:t 
Charles  E.  Knox,  D.  D.,  to  the  History  of  Essex  County. 


78  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

established  iu  1885.  James  Heard,  A.  M.,  bas  been  the  principal  from 
the  beginning.  It  is  solely  a  boys'  school,  aiid  during  the  last  school 
year  about  35  scholars  have  been  in  attendance.  Of  these,  20  are 
reported  as  preparing  for  college.  The  value  of  the  grounds,  buildings, 
and  equipments  is  estimated  at  $1,G()(). 

GLOUCESTER    COUNTY. 

The  first  schoolhouse  built  in  Gloucester  County  was  at  Woodbury 
in  1774.  It  was  a  Friends'  school  and  under  the  control  forever  of  the 
society.  The  Woodbury  Academy  was  established  in  1791.  Like  many 
of  its  comrades  at  this  time  the  money  for  the  building  was  raised  by 
a  lottery.  Some  eminent  men  received  part  of  their  education  here, 
among  them  Commodore  Benjamin  Cooper  and  Commodore  Stephen 
Decatur,  liev.  Andrew  Hunter,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
was  the  first  teacher. 

Swedesboro  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlements  in  Gloucester  County. 
It  was  settled  by  the  Swedes  about  1638.  But  the  Swedes  were  never 
successful  colonists,  and  this  incipient  town  came  into  the  possession 
of  the  English.  The  first  school  was  begun  here  in  1771,  Rev.  John 
Wicksell  having  instigated  his  people  to  the  building  of  a  schoolhouse 
and  organizing  a  school.  It  was  in  this  school  that  Rev.  John  Croes, 
afterwards  bishop  of  New  Jersey,  taught,  in  connection  with  his  rec- 
torship of  the  Episcopal  Church.  A  new  building  was  erected  in  1812, 
which  continued  in  use  till  1872,  when  it  was  sold  at  auction.  A  new 
building  was  then  erected,  which  still  is  in  use.  This  school  went 
by  the  name  of  the  Swedesboro  Academy,  and  was  supported  by  the 
fees  of  the  scliolars  and  by  money  raised  by  the  vote  of  the  town.  It 
has  now  become  a  part  of  the  public-school  system. 

HUDSON    COUNTY. 

Hudson  County  was  set  off  from  Bergen  County  in  1840.  It  covers 
the  territory  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  River  from  Bergen  Point 
northward,  including  Jersey  City,  Hoboken,  West  Hoboken,  Bayonne, 
and  Weehawken,  besides  several  townships  along  the  Passaic  River, 
and  likewise  on  the  north  and  northwest.  The  early  schools  estab- 
lished iu  the  territory  belonging  to  this  county  have  already'  been 
referred  to.  It  is  only  necessary  to  mention  in  detail  the  secondary 
schools  which  iu  comparatively  recent  times  have  sprung  up. 

The  city  of  Hudson,  now  forming  a  part  of  Jersey  City,  was  at  first 
set  off  from  Bergen  County  as  the  township  of  Hudson ;  then  in  1855 
it  was  incorporated  as  a  city,  and  finally  it  was  consolidated  in  1870  with 
Jersey  City.  In  18G5,  in  connection  with  the  public  schools  of  the  city, 
a  normal  school  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  training  teachers 
lor  the  city  schools.  It  was  only  held  on  Saturdays,  and  the  teachers 
were  the  principals  and  other  subordinate  teachers  of  the  city  schools. 

In  the  same  year  a  high  school,  at  first  on  a  small  scale,  was  begun; 


ACADEMIES  AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS.  79 

but  ill  1SG9,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  supplying  in  any  adequate 
degree  the  teachers  that  were  required  by  the  public  schools,  the  high 
school  was  discontinued. 

What  now  composes  Jersey  City  is  the  consolidation  of  many  sep- 
arate communities.  The  first  steps  taken  to  provide  educational  facili- 
ties for  the  growing  town  consisted  in  the  establishment  of  public 
elementary  schools.  Much  agitation  continued  for  years  concerning 
the  establishment  of  a  local  normal  school  to  supply  teachers;  but  it 
was  not  until  1850  that  such  a  school  was  begun ;  and  then  it  was  only 
continued  till  1878,  when  a  normal  class  was  instituted  in  the  high 
school. 

The  high  school  above  referred  to  was  begun  in  1872.  It  was  organ- 
ized with  special  reference  to  the  giving  of  advanced  education  to 
students  of  the  city  public  schools.  There  were  three  courses  of  study, 
viz,  a  classical  course  for  such  as  designed  to  enter  college;  a  commer- 
cial course  for  young  men  who  jmrposed  to  enter  at  once  on  a  business 
career,  and  an  English  course  especially  designed  for  girls  who  were 
about  to  finish  their  education  with  their  graduation  from  the  high 
school.  Arrangements  were  made  in  this  school  to  provide  pedagogical 
instruction  for  those  who  purposed  to  become  teachers.  This  school 
has  been  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  the  city,  and  has  been  continued 
without  interruption  to  the  present. 

In  the  Eeport  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for 
the  academic  year  1892-93  the  Jersey  City  High  School  is  returned  as 
having  15  teachers  and  210  scholars — 17  scholars  preparing  for  college 
in  the  classical  course  and  27  in  the  scientific  course — and  having 
graduated  70  scholars  from  the  school  in  1893. 

The  Hasbrouck  Institute  deserves  especial  mention  in  connection 
with  the  educational  facilities  of  Jersey  City.  It  was  established  in 
1856  by  Dr.  Washington  Hasbrouck.  It  was  begun  and  still  continues 
as  a  private  unincorporated  school.  It  is  now  (1890)  one  of  the  largest 
and  best  equipped  preparatory  schools  in  the  State.  It  has  a  fine 
building  on  the  corner  of  Crescent  and  Harrison  avenues.  The  value 
of  the  grounds,  buildings,  and  equipments  is  estimated  at  $100,000. 
It  has  no  separate  money  endowment,  and  is  supported  entirely  by  the 
fees  derived  from  the  scholars.  These  vary  from  $40  per  annum  in  the 
kindergarten  department  to  $120  in  the  academic  department.  There 
are  both  a  male  and  a  fenmle  department,  together  numbering  345  stu- 
dents. There  were  18  graduates  in  1895,  and  30  males  and  10  females 
preparing  for  college. 

Ur.  Hasbrouck,  who  founded  this  school,  was  appointed  principal  of 
the  State  Normal  School  in  1800.  Since  that  time  the  Hasbrouck  Insti- 
tute has  been  under  the  care  of  Principal  Charles  E.  Stimets,  who  has 
associated  with  himself  Horace  C.  Wait,  as  vice-principal.  During  its 
long  and  prosperous  career  about  500  students  have  been  graduated, 
and  about  200  have  been  sent  to  college. 


80  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

Ill  Ilobokeu,  which  adjoins  Jersey  City  on  the  north,  there  has  sprung 
up  a  remarkable  j^roup  of  educational  institutions.  The  population  of 
the  town  is  composed  in  large  part  of  families  of  German  nationality. 
Under  their  auspices  the  Hoboken  Academy  was  chartered  and  estab- 
lished in  1800.  The  plan  of  organization  and  the  methods  of  instruc- 
tion are  in  a  great  measure  of  the  German  rather  than  the  American 
type.  The  academy  was  incorporated  as  a  Joint  stock  enterprise,  with 
the  distinct  understanding  that  all  income  from  the  stock  should  be 
used  for  the  benefit  of  the  institution.  The  course  of  study  extends 
from  a  kindergarten  department  to  a  department  in  which  the  students 
are  prepared  tor  college. 

The  returns  of  the  Hoboken  Academy,  as  given  in  the  Report  of  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  year  1892-93,  repre- 
sent it  as  having  4  teachers  and  87  scholars  of  the  secondary  grade. 
There  were  13  i)upils  graduated  from  the  academy  in  1893. 

But  the  most  important  institutions  of  learning  in  Hoboken  are  tliose 
founded  by  the  will  of  the  late  Edwin  A.  Stevens.  He  directed  that  a 
plot  of  ground  be  set  apart  for  the  site  of  an  institution  of  science,  and 
that  8ir)(M)i>()  be  paid  from  his  estate  to  the  trustees  of  this  institution; 
and  then,  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  trustees  it  was  necessary,  a  further 
sum  of  .•Br)00,000  was  to  be  paid  over.  This  has  been  done.  The  insti- 
tution was  incorporated  in  1870,  under  the  name  of  the  Stevens  Institute 
of  Technologj'.'  Henry  Morton,  Ph.  D.,  was  appointed  president,  and 
the  buildings  were  immediately  begun.  The  school  has  taken  a  high 
rank  as  a  general  school  of  science,  especially  in  the  direction  of 
mechanical  engineering.  A  workshop  with  all  convenient  api)liances 
was  fitted  n\)  by  President  Morton  and  presented  by  him  to  the  trustees 
of  the  institute. 

I  A  i)roi):iratory  dei)artment,  under  the  name  of  the  Stevens  High 
School,  was  also  established.  The  primary  object  of  this  school  is  to 
prepare  students  for  the  Stevens  Institute;  but  there  are  many  students 
in  attendance  who  do  not,  and  do  not  design  to,  enter  the  parent  insti- 
tution. There  is  in  this  school  a  classical  department  where  students 
are  [)repared  for  entrance  into  the  usual  literary  colleges.  In  1893  this 
school  is  returned  as  having  13  teachers  and  237  scholars.  There  were 
66  young  men  graduated  from  the  school  in  1893.  The  present  princi- 
pal, who  has  held  the  place  from  the  opening  of  the  school,  is  Eev. 
Edward  Wall. 

HUNTERDON   COUNTY. 

This  county  is  contiguous  to  the  Delaware  Itiver,  and  its  nearness  to 
Trenton  and  to  other  educational  centers  has  prevented  it  from  devel- 
oping any  great  amount  of  enterprise  in  this  direction.  No  secondary 
school  has  been  established  at  Lambertville,  which  is  the  largest  and 
most  important  place  in  the  county. 


'  A  sketch  of  the  Stevens  Institute,  furnished  by  President  Morton,  will  be  found 
on  a  subsequent  page. 


ACADEMIES  AND  SECO>'DARY  SCHOOLS.  81 

At  Flemiiigton,  the  coiiuty  seat,  the  tirst  school  seems  to  have  been 
established  iu  1760.  Then,  in  1826.  there  was  a  brick  schoolhotise, 
known  as  the  Academy.  In  this  building  a  classical  school  was  estab- 
lished, and  continued  lor  a  good  many  years.  What  was  known  as  the 
High  School  was  established  by  the  Baptists  in  1855,  but  it  went  oat  of 
existence  after  a  few  years.  Then  the  Reading  Academy  was  founded 
with  a  bequest  left  for  the  purpose  by  Daniel  K.  Eeading.  The  build- 
ing has  been  several  times  enlarged,  and  the  school  has  been  a  most 
useful  element  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  town. 

In  the  township  of  East  Am  well  secondary  education  received  for  a 
time  unusual  development.  Rev.  Andrew  B.  Larison,  a  Baptist  chr- 
gyman,  entered  into  an  arrangement  with  his  brother,  and  started  at 
Ringoes  a  seminary  for  girls.  The  first  term  began  iu  1870,  with  a  fac- 
ulty in  which  C.  W.  Larison.  M.  D..  was  the  teacher  of  natural  science. 
With  many  successive  changes  in  the  faculty  this  school  continued, 
and  has  been  a  most  potent  institution  for  good  in  this  part  of  the 
State. 

Another  ambitious  institution  iu  this  little  village  of  Ringoes,  in  East 
Amwell,  was  founded  in  1875  under  the  name  of  The  Academy  of 
Science  and  Art.  It  was  mainly  the  idea  of  Dr.  Cornelius  W.  Larison, 
who  was  the  teacher  of  science  in  the  seminary  at  Ringoes.  He  began 
to  teach  scieiiL-e  in  a  more  advanced  degree  than  was  required  iu  the 
seminary.  He  had.  of  course,  only  a  small  number  of  jiupils.  but  he 
arranged  for  them  a  curriculum  of  studies  which  included  not  only  the 
science  wLich  he  taught  them,  but  also  mathematics  and  English 
branches  which  were  taught  by  others.  With  a  view  of  imparting  a 
practical  training  in  the  branches  of  natural  science  which  he  tauglit, 
Dr.  Larison  frequently  conducted  his  classes  to  the  surrounding  moun- 
tains, where  they  might  learn  the  secrets  of  nature  amid  the  scenery 
where  she  loves  to  display  them.  Dr.  Larison  continued  these  classes 
till  his  election  to  a  professorship  at  Lewisburg.  where  he  had  graduated. 

MEECEK    COrXTY. 

This  county  is  noted  above  all  others  iu  the  State  for  its  institutions 
of  higher  education.  Besides  the  College  of  Xew  Jersey  and  the  theo- 
logical seminary  at  Princeton,  there  are  a  number  of  other  eminent 
schools  of  learning  of  diHerent  kinds.  The  removal  of  the  College  of 
ZSTew  .Jersey  from  Newark  to  Princeton  in  1756  was  the  most  potent 
cause  in  instigating  the  establishment  of  schools  of  learning  in  the 
vicinity.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  history  of  the  col- 
lege or  the  seminary,  because  separate  and  adequate  accounts  of  them 
will  be  found  below.'  Beginning  with  the  city  of  Trenton,  we  will  give 
some  account  of  the  various  other  schools  in  Mercer  County:      > 

The  Trenton  Academy  was  the  oldest  of  the  advanced  schools  in  the 
city.    It  was  founded  in  1781  as  a  stock  institution.     The  original 

1  Se€  the  History  of  the  College  of  Xew  Jersey,  by  Prof.  John  De  Witt.  D.  D..  LL.  D., 
and  the  History  of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  by  Rev.  J.  H.  Dulles. 
20687— :S^o.  23 6 


82  •  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

sbiircs  ainouuted  to  £270,  subscribed  by  piomiuent  citizens.  The 
school  was  opened  in  1782  with  pupils  of  both  sexes.  It  was  chartered 
by  the  legislature  in  1785,  and  was  authorized  in  1794  to  raise  money 
by  means  of  a  lottery  for  its  benefit.  Twelve  hundred  and  sixty-three 
doHars  Avere  obtained  by  this  means.  The  Trenton  Academy  has  had  a 
long  and  very  useful  existence,  and  has  trained  many  men  of  eminence 
ami  learning.  It  had  many  ups  and  downs  in  its  career.  The  most 
cai):iblc  and  successful  of  its  more  recent  principals  was  the  Rev.  David 
Cole,  I).  D.,  who  was  one  of  tlie  active  and  influential  movers  in  the 
events  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  State  Xormal  School 
in  1855.  He  continued  to  remain  at  the  head  of  the  Academy  until 
1857,  when  he  became  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  the  normal 
school.  He  remained,  however,  only  one  year,  when  he  gave  up  his 
jirofessorshi])  and  became  a  pastor. 

After  the  departure  of  Dr.  Cole  the  old  Trenton  Academy  lasted  for 
awhile,  but  finally  it  was  closed  and  the  building  was  ])urchased  by  the 
city  for  one  of  its  schoolhouses,  and  it  is  still  in  use  in  the  public  school 
system. 

The  normal  school  was  authorized  by  the  legislature  in  1855.  The 
purpose,  as  defined  by  the  act,  was  "the  training  and  education  of  its 
pupils  in  snch  branches  of  knowledge  and  such  methods  of  teaching 
and  governing  as  will  qualify  them  for  teachers  of  our  common  schools." 
The  buildings,  which  were  the  gift  of  the  city  of  Trenton,  were  at  once 
begun,  but  in  the  meantime  the  school  was  opened  in  a  temporary 
building.  The  permanent  buildings  were  completed  and  occupied  in 
]\Iarch,  1856.  The  first  jn-incipal  was  William  F.  Phelps,  who  held 
the  place  until  1804,  when  he  went  to  Minnesota  as  principal  of  the 
State  Kormal  School  there.  The  successive  principals  have  been  as 
follows : 

William  V.  Phelps 1855  to  1864 

John  S.  Hart 1864  to  1871 

Lewis  M.  Johiisou 1871  to  1876 

Wasliiugtou  Hasliroiick 1876  to  1889 

James  M.  Green 1889  to 

There  is  also  a  model  school  connected  with  the  normal  school,  which 
was  established  in  1858,  and  which  was  designed  as  an  elementary 
school,  where  the  normal  scholars  can  observe  the  best  methods  of 
instruction  and  can  be  trained  to  a  correct  theory  and  practice  of  the 
training  of  children. 

Mr.  Paul  Farnum,  of  lieverly,  had  erected  a  building  which  he 
desired  the  State  to  accept  as  a  home  for  its  normal  school,  but  the 
sentiment  of  the  State  was  in  favor  of  having  its  normal  school  at  the 
capital.  Hence  the  school  at  Beverly  was  given  to  the  State,  including 
the  building  and  an  endowment  of  $20,000,  on  condition  that  it  should 
make  the  school  a  preparatory  department  of  the  State  Nornml  School 
and  appropriate  annually  the  sum  of  at  least  |1,200  for  its  support. 


ACADEMIES  AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS.  83 

Under  tliis  arraugement  the  State  Normal  School  has  been  conducted 
down  to  the  present  time.  The  State  appropriates  828,000  annually 
for  the  support  of  the  institutions.  The  model  school  is  self-supporting, 
its  earnings  for  the  year  ending  June,  1895,  having  been  823,349. 

In  connection  with  the  public  school  system  of  Trenton,  a  high  school 
was  established  in  1874.  The  curriculum  includes  the  usual  branches 
of  a  secondary  school,  and  is  intended  to  train  both  boys  and  girls  for 
college  or  for  practical  life.  The  attendance  is  large  and  from  all  classes 
of  society.  For  the  year  1892-93  there  were  11  teachers  employed  and 
nearly  300  scholars  in  attendance. 

In  1790  a  movement  was  begnn  in  Princeton  to  establish  an  academy. 
A  number  of  the  leading  men  of  the  i)lace,  by  individual  contributions, 
raised  the  funds  for  starting  an  academy,  which  was  incorporated  in 
1795.  A  building  was  erected  on  the  grounds  of  tlie  Presbyterian 
Church,  where  the  school  was  conducted  until  1815,  when  the  building 
was  removed  from  the  church  lot. 

Another  joint-stock  academy  was  begun  in  1822,  of  which  Rev.  Dr. 
Ixobert  Baird  was  at  one  time  x>riii^'ipal.  But  this  school  was  not  per- 
manent and  ceased  to  exist  after  a  few  years. 

A  private  preparatory  school,  called  the  Edgehill  high  school,  was 
established  in  1829  by  Robert  B.  Patton.  It  was  strictly  a  boarding- 
school,  and  was  managed  by  a  succession  of  able  men.  It  was  finally, 
in  18G9,  sold  into  private  hands  and  ceased  to  be  conducted  as  a  school. 
"While  it  lasted  it  was  justly  renowned  as  a  preparatory  school  of  the 
the  first  class.  It  sent  many  students  to  Princeton  College,  to  which  it 
was  essentially  a  feeder. 

I.AWRKNCEVILLE    SCHOOL. 

The  most  richly  endowed  secondary  school  in  the  State,  and  no  doubt 
the  best  organized  and  conducted,  is  the  Lawrenceville  school.  It  owes 
its  present  superb  outfit  to  the  trustees  of  the  John  C.  Green  estate, 
who  bought  the  beautiful  i^roperty  of  the  old  Lawrenceville  high 
school  and  expended  upwards  of  81,000,000  upon  the  grounds,  build- 
ings, and  equipments.  They  also  endowed  the  school  with  a  money 
endowment  of  about  $400,000.  It  was  designed  as  feeder  for  Prince- 
ton College,  and  its  trustees  and  head  master  are  all  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  is  conducted  as  a  boarding  school,  each 
of  the  masters  having  charge  of  a  separate  house,  in  which  a  specified 
number  of  boys  are  lodged  and  fed  and  cared  for.  The  inmates  of  each 
house  take  their  meals  with  the  family  of  the  nuister,  and  are  designed 
to  form  a  Christian  household.  The  cost  of  tuition  and  board  in  one 
of  these  houses  is  from  $400  to  $650. 

The  instruction  is  organized  in  seven  departments,  viz :  Latin,  Greek, 
mathematics,  English,  modern  languages,  science,  and  elocution.  The 
purposes  proposed  by  the  school  are:  (1)  to  furnish  to  the  pupils  an 
adequate  preparation  for  any  American  college  or  scientific  school,  and 


84  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION   IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

(2)  to  provide  a  sufficient  culture  for  entering  upon  any  business  career 
without  a  college  course.  All  students  are  required  to  study  Latin 
during-  the  first  three  years  of  their  attendance  at  the  school.  The 
course  of  study  extends  through  four  years,  but  in  the  case  of  boys  of 
unusual  ability  the  time  may  be  shortened;  and  in  many  cases  a  longer 
time  may  be  required. 

The  present  head  master,  who  has  held  the  position  since  the  opening 
of  the  school  in  188.>,  is  ]{ev.  James  C.  Mackenzie,  Ph.  D.'  The  number 
of  students — all  boj'^s — is  329.  Forty-three  boys  were  graduated  from 
the  school  in  1895.  Nearly  the  entire  number  in  attendance  are 
preparing  to  enter  college. 

PENNINGTON   SEMINARY. 

The  Pennington  Seminary  was  founded  in  1838  in  the  village  of 
Pennington,  Mercer  County,  The  Eev.  John  K.  Shaw,  a  Methodist 
clergyman,  was  its  founder.  Through  his  influence  the  Xew  Jersey 
Methodist  Conference  purchased  the  property  and  iirocured  a  charter 
for  the  institution.  Its  beautiful  situation,  and  its  healthful  surround- 
ings, together  with  its  scholastic  advantages,  have  made  it  an  attractive 
institution.  During  its  existence  of  more  than  half  a  century  it  has 
had  seven  principals.  Eev.  Thomas  O'FIanlon,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  the  pres- 
ent principal,  has  been  at  the  head  of  this  school  for  nearly  thirty  years, 
and  has  done  more  than  all  his  predecessors  to  raise  it  to  its  present 
high  position.  Its  grounds,  buildings,  and  equipments,  are  valued  at 
about  -$10.5,000,  and  it  has  some  trifling  sums  invested  by  way  of  endow- 
ment. It  is  supported  by  the  fees  of  the  students,  which  are  $275  per 
annum.  It  contains  both  a  male  and  female  department,  which,  how- 
ever, are  entirely  separate.  In  the  former  young  men  are  prepared  for 
college  or  for  a  business  career. 

By  an  act  of  the  legislature  passed  in  1854  the  trustees  of  the  Pen- 
nington Seminary  were  authorized  to  confer  on  their  lady  graduates 
the  degrees  of  mistress  of  English  literature,  and  mistress  of  liberal 
arts.  In  compliance  with  this  authority  these  degrees  were  conferred 
on  239  graduates  between  1855  and  1891. 

There  Avere  in  1896  18  teachers  and  150  male  and  90  female  scholars. 
Twenty  students  were  graduated  from  the  seminary  in  1895.  The 
principal  in  1890  reports  50  male  students  as  preparing  for  college  and 
10  female  students. 

The  studies  pursued  in  the  school  vary  with  the  age  and  aim  of  the 
students.  There  is  a  first-class  classical  course,  where  students  pre- 
paring i'o'c  college  may  receive  a  good  training.  There  are  departments 
in  art  and  music  and  belles  lettres,  where  the  students  can  obtain  a 
training  better  than  usual.  In  all  respects  the  instruction  is  of  a 
thorough  and  well  balanced  character. 


'  Since  the  above  was  written  Dr.  Mackenzie  has  resigned  his  laborious  position. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  85 


I'KDDIK    INSTlTUTi:.' 


The  Peddie  Institute  was  first  proposed  at  the  Xew  Jersey  State 
Baptist  Couventiou  in  1863,  at  which  it  was  resolved  that  a  denomina- 
tional school  was  desirable  and  that  when  810,000  was  subscribed  the 
design  should  be  entertained  as  feasible,  and  that  the  location  should 
be  fixed  when  the  mone3'"  was  subscribed.  Baptist  denominational 
schools  had  been  established  on  several  preceding  occasions.  As  early 
as  175G  a  Baptist  school  was  opened  at  Hoi)ewell,  N.  J.,  under  Rev. 
Isaac  Eaton,  who  was  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church,  as  principal. 
The  second  school  of  this  kind  was  founded  at  Bordentown  in  1778  by 
Eev.  Dr.  Burgess  Allison.  It  continued  to  1790,  and  was  of  great 
benefit  and  influence.  A  third  denominational  school  was  established 
in  1830  at  Sandy  Kidge,  under  the  name  of  the  Kittenhouse  Labor 
School.  A  fourth  was  an  academy  at  Plain  field,  which  was  begun  in 
1831  and  continued  ten  years. 

The  early  attempts  to  launch  the  Peddie  Institute  were  discouraging. 
But  the  persistence  of  Ilev.  J.  U.  Hyde  at  last  conquered.  Mr.  Thomas 
B.  Peddie,  of  Newark,  became  interested  in  the  enterprise.  After  some 
smaller  sums  he  contributed  $25,000  in  1870,  on  which  occasion  the 
school  was  called,  after  him,  the  Peddie  Institute.  The  buildings  were 
begun  at  the  village  of  Hightstowu,  on  the  Camden  and  Amboy 
Eailroad.  Before  the  completion  of  these  buildings  several  severe  diffi- 
culties arose,  and  once  the  property  was  about  to  be  sold  under 
mortgage,  but  through  the  generosity  of  Mr,  Peddie  and  others  these 
difficulties  were  finally  overcome.  In  his  will  Mr.  Peddie  made  a 
bequest  to  the  school  of  $10,000  as  an  endowment,  which  sum  was 
increased  by  others  to  $70,000.  In  1893  the  widow  of  Mr.  Peddie 
increased  this  endowment  by  the  sum  of  $100,000,  so  that  the  school 
has  now  an  endowment  of  $170,000. 

Other  important  gifts  have  been  made  to  the  institute.  The  Long- 
street  Library  and  Science  Building  is  the  gift  of  Jonathan  and  Mary 
Longstreet,  who  contributed  about  $15,000  for  the  building  and  also  a 
library  fund  for  maintaining  it.  A  valuable  scientific  collection  is  also 
in  the  building.  In  1890  Mrs.  Peddie  purchased  Peddie  Park  for  the 
institute,  which  consists  in  part  of  wooded  ground.  The  whole  estab- 
lishment constitutes  one  of  the  most  complete  and  admirable  institutions 
of  secondary  education  in  the  State. 

There  are  about  15  teachers  and  from  200  to  225  scholars.  Three 
courses  of  study  are  furnished,  viz :  (1)  Preparatory,  (2)  Latin-scientific, 
and  (3)  English.  The  dominant  aim  of  the  instruction  is  good  scholar- 
ship and  the  development  of  Christian  character. 

'We  are  indebted  for  most  of  these  fiicts  to  a  memorial  iu  manuscript  of  the  Rev. 
John  C.  Hjde,  who  was  the  financial  secretary  of  this  enterprise.  Rev.  J.  C.  Hyde, 
his  son,  of  Quaker  Hill,  Conn.,  has  kindly  allowed  me  to  use  this  memorial. 


86  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION   IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

MIDDLESEX    COUNTY. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  first  steps  iu  education  taken  at 
Woodbridge  and  Perth  Amboy.  No  schools  of  a  secondary  grade  have 
been  conducted  at  these  most  ancient  localities.  At  Kew  Brunswick, 
however,  there  has  been  a  succession  of  institutions  which  have  ren- 
dered it  a  center  of  education.  Of  the  earliest  schools  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  speak  further.  There  is,  however,  the  old  Lancasterian  school, 
which  only  went  out  of  existence  at  the  death  of  Mr.  A.  W.  IMayo, 
the  last  schoolmaster.  Mr.  William  Hall  in  1803  bequeathed  to 
trustees  a  sum  of  money,  amounting  to  about  $4,000,  "in  trust  to  be 
expended  by  them  in  educating  the  i>oor  children  of  the  city  of  New 
Brunswick.''  The  trustees  employed  a  snccession  of  teachers,  the  last 
of  whom  was,  as  we  have  stated,  Mr.  Mayo.  The  school  Avas  opened  iu 
1814  in  the  building  which  for  a  time  had  been  occupied  by  Queen's 
College,  and  was  removed  down  Schureman  street  below  George.  This 
opening  corresponded  in  time  with  the  educational  movement  in  favor 
of  the  Lancasterian  system  of  teaching.  The  school  was  therefore 
at  first  conducted  on  the  monitor  plan,  and  was  so  continued  for  many 
years,  so  that,  even  during  Mr.  Mayo's  incumbency,  when  the  Lancas- 
ter methods  had  been  long  discontinued,  it  was  known  as  the  "  Lancaster 
School."  Since  the  death  of  Mr.  JMayo  the  trustees  have  granted  the 
income  of  this  fund  to  the  ''Children's  Industrial  Home,"  where  tlie 
inmates,  who  may  justly  be  called  "poor  children,"  receive  an  education 
suited  to  their  wants. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  here  a  history  of  the  movements  that 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  Eutgers  College.  These  will  be  found 
detailed  below.^  But  something  may  be  said  of  the  grammar  school, 
which  in  history  goes  back  to  the  time  of  the  origin  of  the  college 
itself.  The  minutes  of  the  college  between  1770  and  1782  have  been  lost, 
and  only  occasional  references  to  its  affairs  or  those  of  the  grammar 
school  can  be  found  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day.  During  the  Eevo- 
lutionary  war  the  college,  as  well  as  the  grammar  school,  was  compelled 
to  leave  New  Brunswick,  and  for  a  time  were  conducted  at  Raritan 
(now  Somerville).  The  following  announcement  in  the  New  Jersey 
Gazette,  1778,  shows  the  existence  of  the  grammar  school: 

The  public  are  informed  that  a  grammar  school  is  open  at  Raritan,  Somerset 
Coiinty,  where  decent  accommodations  for  young  gentlemen  can  bo  had  at  the  mod- 
erate price  of  £80  per  annum.  *  *  *  The  faculty  of  Queen's  College,  having  the 
care  and  direction  of  the  Bchool,  will  make  it  their  particular  part  to  attend  to  the 
education  and  conduct  of  the  youth. 

October  3,  1782,  the  following  statement  of  the  attendance  at  the 
college  and  grammar  school  (having  returned  to  New  Brunswick)  is 
given : 

Four  students  in  the  senior  class  of  the  college,  1  student  in  the 
junior  class,  1  student  iu  the  sophomore  class,  12  in  the  freshman  class, 

'  See  the  history  of  Rutgers  College,  by  Rev.  D.  D.  Demarest,  D.  D.,  on  another 
page. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  87 

8  ill  English  scliool.  Grammar  school:  Five  in  upper  class,  9  in  second 
class,  40  in  the  whole. 

The  grammar  school  has  had  a  variety  of  experiences  and  has  been 
a  most  iiset'ul  adjunct  to  the  college.  Some  of  its  rectors  have  been 
distinguished  not  only  in  the  management  of  the  school,  but  also  in 
other  and  subsequent  lines  of  life.  Thus,  Andrew  Kirkpatrick,  after- 
wards chief  justice  of  New  Jersey,  was  rector  1783  to  1786.  Kev.  John 
Croes,  afterwards  Episcopal  bishop  of  New  Jersey,  was  rector  1801  to 
1808. 

New  Brunswick  has  had  a  number  of  notable  schools  for  the  educa- 
tion of  young  ladies.  Dr.  Oroes,  during  the  time  he  was  rector  of 
Christ  Church,  was  also  a  teacher  in  a  female  school.  Miss  Hoyt,  for 
many  years,  to  the  time  of  ber  death,  in  1871,  conducted  a  female  school 
which  was  justly  famous  and  which  served  to  educate  a  large  part  of 
the  girls  of  New  Brunswick.  A  girls'  school  is  now  conducted  by  the 
Misses  Anable  which  in  a  certain  degree  may  be  considered  the  sucr 
cessor  of  Miss  Iloyt's  school. 

The  present  flourishing  high  school  in  New  Brunswick  was  opened 
about  twenty  years  ago.  It  is  designed  to  serve  as  the  apex  of  the  pub- 
lic school  system  of  the  city.  It  has  a  classical  department  competent 
to  prepare  in  a  suitable  manner  students  who  wish  to  enter  either  male 
or  female  colleges. 

MONMOUTH    COrNTY. 

The  early  schools  in  this  county  were  chiefly  at  Freehold,  and  the 
only  secondary  schools  of  an  early  date  which  require  mention  here 
flourished  in  this  ancient  town.  There  were  several  pay  schools,  where 
the  classics  and  other  branches  necessary  for  admission  to  college  were 
taught  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  war  of  independence.  Rev.  Andrew 
Fowler,  who  was  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  conducted  such  a  school 
about  the  year  1800.  But  it  was  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  after 
that  when  the  more  important  educational  enterprises  were  begun. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  these  was  the  Freehold  Academy.  It  was 
established  in  1831,  and  the  early  teachers  were  James  McBurney, 
Eev.  Samuel  Edwin  Arnold,  and  others.  In  1836  a  movement  was 
begun  to  build  a  new  structure  for  the  academy,  the  old  building 
having  become  inadequate.  The  records  of  the  academy  are  very, 
imperfect,  but  it  is  probable  it  was  incorporated  in  1837,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  new  building  Avas  then  occupied.  It  is  said  that 
Maj.  Gen.  James  Shields,  afterwards  in  the  United  States  Army  and 
United  States  Senator  from  Illinois,  was  once  principal  of  this  academy. 
The  usefulnei^s  and  efliciency  of  the  academy  lasted  for  many  years, 
but  finally,  after  a  period  of  decadence,  it  was  absorbed  into  the  public 
school  system. 

What  was  called  the  Freehold  Graded  School  was  opened  in  1874. 
This  was  not  in  any  strict  sense  a  secondary  school;  yet  it  contains  a 
department  in  which  the  higher  English  branches  are  taught.     In  1893 


88  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

this  school  was  reported  as  having  3  teachers  iu  its  secondary  depart- 
lueut,  and  82  scholars;  11  scholars  were  graduated  in  1893.  Mr.  Jolin 
Enright,  Mho  was  the  principal  at  the  beginning  of  tlie  school,  still  con- 
tinues to  occupy  the  same  position. 

The  Freehold  Institute  for  Boys  was  begun  in  1847.  Oliver  li.  Willis, 
who  had  a  boarding  school  at  Hightstown,  along  with  Samuel  C.  Ilicks 
erected  a  building  at  Freehold.  Mr.  Willis  removed  his  school  to  the 
new  and  more  commodious  quarters.  Here  a  very  successful  and  excel- 
lent institution  was  built  up.  It  has  the  credit  of  numbering  among 
its  teachers  at  various  times  Br.  Paul  A.  Chadbourne,  afterwards  the 
president  of  Williams  College;  Eev.  Dr.  Eobert  Baird,  who  lectured 
on  history,  and  Eev.  Samuel  Lockwood,  who  lectured  on  geology. 
Subsequently  the  school  came  into  the  hands  of  Eev.  A.  G.  Chambers, 
who  has  continued  it  to  the  present  time.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ably 
conducted  and  useful  of  the  preparatory  schools  of  the  State.  Prin- 
cipal Chambers  says  that  since  1868,  the  date  when  he  came  to  it,  over 
500  boys  have  been  iu  attendance;  and  from  these  candidates  have 
entered  West  Point,  and  Princeton,  Eutgers,  Columbia,  and  Lafayette 
colleges,  and  others  have  entered  on  various  business  and  jjrofessional 
careers. 

The  Voung  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Freehold,  Monmouth  County,  was 
established  in  the  year  1841  by  the  Eev.  D.  A'^.  McLean,  1).  1).,  who 
afterwards  became  president  of  Lafayette  College.  Mr.  Amos  Eich- 
ardson,  A.  M.,  then  a  recent  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  was  the 
first  principal.  He  was  a  man  of  rare  gifts  and  accomplishments.  He 
proved  himself  admirably  qualified  for  the  work  of  building  uj)  such  an 
institution  of  learning.  The  seminary  under  his  supervision  attracted 
patronage  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  In  1854  he  built  an  additional 
building  for  his  growing  school;  but  just  as  he  was  about  to  enter 
upon  the  enjoyment  of  his  enlarged  facilities  he  accidentally  lost  the 
sight  of  his  eyes.  But  notwithstanding  his  aftliction,  he  continued  to 
conduct  the  school  down  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1881,  at  the  age  of 
79  years. 

There  was  some  confusion  and  discouragement  caused  by  his  death. 
The  property,  which  had  belonged  to  IMr.  Eichardson,  had  to  be  sold. 
Eev.  Frank  Chandler,  who  at  this  time  was  pastor  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Freehold,  used  every  effort  to  resuscitate  the  old 
and  useful  institution.  It  was  incorporated  in  1883  under  the  general 
laws  of  incorporation  and  Mr.  Chandler  was  appointed  to  take  charge 
•of  it.  Lnder  his  efticient  management  the  seminary  resumed  its  ]>ros- 
perity.  He  secured  able  teachers  lor  the  school  and  made  it  one  of  the 
best  girls'  schools  in  the  State.  The  double  work,  however,  of  pastor 
of  a  church  and  principal  of  a  young  ladies'  seminary  was  more  than 
Dr.  Chandler  could  continue  to  perform. 

The  school  buildings  and  equipments  were  therefore  rented  to  Miss 
Eunice  D.  Sewall,  who  associated  with  herself  her  sister.     Under  their 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  89 

management  tlie  school  continues  to  flourish.  In  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education  Eeport  for  1892-93  the  Young  Ladies'  Institute  is 
returned  as  having  7  teachers  aud  45  scholars.  Seven  young  ladies 
were  graduated  in  1893.  Four  persons  are  reported  as  preparing  for 
college.  The  alununv  were  i>reparing  to  celebrate  the  semicentennial 
anniversary  of  the  school  in  June,  1S9C, 

Besides  the  secondary  schools  above  enumerated,  the  Report  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education  for  1892-93  contains  the  record  of 
two  others,  viz:  (1)  The  high  school  at  Keyport,  with  1  teachers  and 
75  scholars  in  the  secondary  grade.  Fourteen  scholars  were  graduated 
in  1893,  and  5  were  preparing  to  enter  college.  S.  V.  Arrowsmith  was 
at  the  time  of  this  report  the  principal.  (2)  The  high  school  at  Red 
Bank,  with  1  teachers  and  47  scholars  of  the  secondary  grade.  Six- 
teen scholars  were  graduated  in  1893.  Richard  Case  was  at  that  date 
the  principal.  (3)  The  Glenwood  Collegiate  Institute  at  Matawau. 
This  was  founded  in  1835.  The  present  princijial  is  Charles  A.  Jagger, 
A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

MORRIS   COUNTY. 

As  has  been  recorded,  Mr.  Tlieodore  Frelinghuysen,  in  a  report  con- 
cerning schools  in  1828,  says:  "It  is  probable  that  this  county  more 
richly  enjoys  the  advantages  and  blessings  of  education  than  any  other 
in  the  State."  In  every  neighborhood  there  is  evidence  that  schools 
were  begun  and  maintained  in  connection  with  the  early  churches. 
There  were  in  Morristown  before  the  Revolutionary  war  two  schools  of 
an  academic  grade.  The  whole  county  was  beautiful  and  fertile,  and 
attracted  to  itself  a  superior  class  of  immigrants.  The  Hollanders 
spread  themselves  from  the  Passaic  regions,  where  they  had  settled  in 
numbers.  The  Xew  Englanders,  who  had  found  homes  at  ISTewark  and 
Eli/abethtown,  gradually  extended  tlieir  boundaries  into  the  beautiful 
and  diversified  regions  of  Morris  County.  Schools  and  churches  sprang 
up  wherever  these  intelligent  settlers  formed  communities  sufficiently 
numerous. 

Morristown  was  the  most  advanced  of  all  these  communities.  Its  sub- 
stantial prosperity  is  shown  by  the  prominent  attitude  it  held  during 
the  Revolutionary  war.  Even  before  this  time  we  learn  of  Princeton 
College  applying  successfully  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Morristown 
for  aid.  The  minutes  ^  of  this  church  record  that  the  trustees  in  1707 
gave  leave  for  a  schoolhouse  to  be  built  upon  church  ground.  And 
again  in  1771  they  gave  leave  to  remove  a  schoolhouse  to  the  par- 
sonage grounds. 

The  Morris  Academy,  which  continued  for  sixty  years,  was  founded 
in  IMorristown  in  1791.  It  was  established  by  the  voluntary  subscrij)- 
tion  of  £25  each  by  24  men.    It  was  built  at  a  cost  of  £520,  the  ground 

'  We  are  indebted  to  the  history  of  Morristown,  by  the  Rev.  Riifus  S.  Green,  iu  the 
History  of  Morris  County,  for  most  of  tliese  facts. 


90  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

haviug  cost  au  additional  £30.  It  was  opened  November,  1792,  under 
Caleb  Eussell  as  principal.  V^olume  VIII  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
New  Jersey  Historical  Society  gives  the  names  and  residences  of  2G9 
pupils  who  attended  this  academy  between  1792  and  1795.  The  rates 
of  tuition  were:  For  languages,  mathematics,  and  surveying,  25  shil- 
lings a  quarter;  for  French,  30  to  40  shillings;  for  English  studies,  12, 
15,  and  IG  shillings. 

Rev.  Samuel  Whelpley  was  the  principal  from  1797  to  1805.  He 
seemed  to  have  had  some  difficulty  with  the  patrons  of  the  school,  for 
about  1800  the  Warren  Academy  was  founded  in  a  spirit  of  opposition. 
Both  of  these  schools  flourished.  We  have  in  Barnard's  Journal  of 
Education  (vol.  17,  p.  92)  an  account  by  Nathan  Hedges,  esq,,  of  both 
these  schools,  which  he  attended.  He  says  that  Principal  Samuel 
Whelpley  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  William  A.  Whelpley,  who 
was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  an  excellent  scholar,  and  a  good 
teacher.  In  Mr.  Hedges's  time  the  academy  had  three  departments, 
viz,  juvenile,  Englisli,  and  classical.  In  the  latter  there  were  about  00 
scholars,  almost  all  boarders,  from  New  York  and  the  Southern  States. 
The  Morris  Academy  still  continues.  In  the  Report  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  for  1892-93  it  is  returned  as  having  3  teachers  and 
31  scholars  in  the  secondary  grade.  Charles  D.  Piatt  is  reported  as 
the  principal,  who  has  held  office  since  1883. 

Besides  these  more  important  schools  at  Morristown,  there  were  at 
various  times  others  which  sprang  up  and  continued  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  time.  Thus  at  Succasunna  there  was  an  academy  about  the 
year  1800.  At  Chester,  William  Rankin  in  1854  bought  a  building  and 
started  a  classical  school.  He  had  already  established  his  reputation 
as  a  classical  teacher,  and  had  during  the  eight  years  he  remained  here 
not  less  than  500  i)upils  under  his  tuition. 

OCEAN    COUNTY. 

The  high  school  at  Toms  River  is  the  only  representative  of  secondary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Ocean  County.  In  the  Report  of  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1894-95,  the  following 
statistics  are  given  of  this  school : 

Name  of  scliool,  Toms  River  High  SLhool;  i)iiiicip;il,  V.  A.  North;  other  teachers, 
1;  pupils  of  secondary  grade,  50. 

Besides  this  school,  belonging  to  the  public  system,  there  are  two 
private  secondary  schools  at  Lakewood.  One  of  these  for  boys  is  cred- 
ited with  the  following  returns: 

Name  of  school,  Lakewood  Heights  School;  ]>rincipal,  James  W.  Morey;  other 
teachers,  3;  pupils  of  secondary  grade,  26;  graduates  1S95,  4;  volumes  in  library, 
500;  value  of  building  and  grounds,  $30,000. 

The  second  is  for  girls,  and  is  reported  as  follows: 

Name  of  school,  The  Oaks;  principal,  Miss  E.  T.  Farrington;  other  teachers,  2; 
pupils  of  secondary  grade,  24;  volumes  in  library,  2,000, 


ACADEMIES   AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  91 

PASSAIC    COUNTY. 

The  first  settlers  of  Passaic  County  were  Hollanders,  and  they  brought 
with  them  the  same  leanings  toward  education  as  were  exhibite(^l  in 
New  Amsterdam.  The  district  now  called  Passaic  orioinally  bore  the 
name  of  Acquackanonk.  On  the  same  lot  with  the  Dutch  Church  was 
established  a  school,  and  in  this  primitive  school  and  its  successors  the 
children  continued  to  obtain  their  education  down  to  a  comparatively 
modern  period. 

In  1853  Dr.  John  M.  Howe,  a  wealthy  and  intelligent  citizen  from 
New  York,  removed  to  Passaic.  He  was  impressed  with  the  want  of 
etfucational  facilities,  and  set  himself  to  remedy  them.  He  canvassed 
the  town,  and  tried  to  promote  a  plan  for  building  a  new  and  better 
school.  He  met  with  small  encouragement,  and  even  with  threats  that 
legal  proceedings  would  be  resorted  to  in  order  to  stop  his  scheme  for 
involving  the  town  in  the  expense  of  a  new  school  building. 

The  matter  ended  in  Dr.  Howe  starting  a  school  of  his  own,  where 
not  only  the  elementary  branches  were  taught,  but  also  the  higher 
branches  of  a  classical  education.  The  school  was  called  by  the  peo- 
ple Howe's  Academy,  although  he  himself  never  so  called  it,  and  it 
was  never  incorporated.  Subsequently,  when  the  movement  for  inib- 
lic  schools  became  i)ressing.  Dr.  Howe  was  one  of  the, active  adherents 
of  the  new  plans,  and  his  private  academy  was  discontinued,  its  place 
being  sup[)lie(l  by  the  high  school,  which  the  public  schools  included. 

The  most  important  town  in  Passaic  County  is,  of  course,  Paterson. 
Although  it  was  founded  at  a  later  date  than  the  city  of  Passaic,  it  has 
far  surpassed  it  in  population  and  in  manufa'.-turiug,  as  well  as  in  edu- 
cational facilities.  Mr.  William  Nelson,'  from  whose  admirable  pam- 
IDhlet  we  glean  the  facts  here  given  about  schools  in  Paterson,  says 
that  the  first  school  within  the  present  boundaries  of  the  city  was  at 
the  junction  of  Market  street  and  the  Wesel  road.  The  Wesel  neigh- 
boriiood  was  settled  much  earlier  than  the  rest  of  the  city  of  Pater- 
son, and  a  school  was  there  first  required.  This  house,  at  the  close  of 
the  last  century,  was  a  very  plain  structure,  of  one  story  in  height,  the 
front  part  being  used  for  a  schoolroom  and  the  rear  as  a  residence  for 
the  schoolmaster.  It  was  built  of  stone,  and  the  clay  mortar  gradually 
dropped  out,  so  that  the  schoolhouse  received  the  appropriate  nickname 
of  the  "bellows."  Here  school  continued  to  be  held  for  many  years. 
Mr  Nelson  records  the  important  fact  that  in  1825  the  trustees  put  in 
a  box  stove  to  heat  the  "bellows." 

The  school  sessions  were  three  hours  in  the  forenoon  and  three  in  the 
afternoon.  A  half  holiday  was  allowed  on  Saturday.  The  rates  paid 
for  schooling  were  from  G  to  12  shillings  a  quarter  for  the  ordinary 
branches,  but  for  higher  branches  a  larger  sum.      About  1820   the 

1  Historical  Sketch  of  Schools  iu  Paterson,  by  "William  Nelson,  1877,  printed  by  the 
Board  of  Education. 


92  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

teacher  was  paid,  as  Mv.  Nelson  says,  12  shillings  a  quarter  for  each 
pupil  if  he  found  himself,  but  if  he  "boarded  round"  the  rate  was  10 
shillings. 

The  town  of  Paterson  was  founded  in  1702  by  a  manufacturing  soci- 
ety termed  the  Society  for  Establishing  Useful  Manufactures.  This 
company  was  organized  by  Alexander  Hamilton  and  his  friends,  and  a 
liberal  charter  was  obtained  from  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey,  and  the 
locality  where  the  comjjany  i)urchased  laud  for  their  establishment  was 
called  Paterson,  in  honor  of  the  then  governor  of  New  Jersey,  Of 
course  the  falls  in  the  Passaic  Elver  at  this  point  was  the  controlling 
cause  for  their  choice  of  location.  The  company  early  recognized  the 
importance  of  providing  for  the  education  of  their  employees,  and  at 
first  engaged  a  teacher  to  instruct  the  children  of  the  factory  on  Sun- 
day. The  company,  however,  failed  in  1790,  and  its  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  education  of  the  children  came  to  naught.  Nevertheless  plans  for 
the  instruction  of  the  children  continued  to  be  formed. 

Thus,  in  1799,  Kev.  flohn  Pliillii)S,  a  Methodist  clergyman,  undertook 
to  start  a  boarding  school  for  both  males  and  females.  It  only  flour- 
ished for  a  few  years,  however,  and  in  1803  was  discontinued.  This 
was  the  first  effort  to  promote  higher  education  in  Paterson.  Mr.  Nel- 
son gives  the  record  of  the  private  schools  during  the  years  1824  to 
1829,  as  collected  by  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Fisher.  Without  giving  the 
details  of  this  record  we  present  the  following  summary:  3824,  whole 
number  in  attendance,  315  scholars  out  of  a  poi)ulation  of  2,178  persons 
under  16  years  of  age;  1825,323  scholars;  1827,  469  scholars;  1829,  G64 
scholars. 

We  quote  from  Mr.  Nelson's  statement  of  the  advertisement  of  ]Mrs. 
Wilde  of  the  summer  term  of  her  ladies'  school.  It  is,  in  part,  as 
follows: 

*  *  *  Youug  ladies  will  lie  carefully  instructed  in  the  varioua  branches  of  Eng- 
lish education,  such  as  reading,  writing,  English  grammar,  arithmetic,  geography, 
history,  rhetoric.  Also,  embroidery  on  lace  to  any  required  pattern  for  veils,  dresses, 
caps,  edgings,  etc.  Also,  the  most  approved  method  of  ])ainting  on  velvet,  of  taking 
any  pattern  of  flowers  and  of  painting  them  in  a  superior  manner. 

There  was  started  a  school  by  the  IMethodists  in  1825;  in  1829  the 
Manchester  Academy  was  begun ;  but  both  these  enterprises  were  of 
short  duration. 

The  free-school  movement  began  to  be  prominent  in  1827 — that  is, 
the  community  began  to  feel  the  importance  of  education  for  the  poor 
as  Mell  as  the  rich.  The  legislature  had  provided  that  a  committee 
might  be  elected  by  any  town,  which  should  be  empowered  to  lay  a  tax 
for  the  support  of  schools,  and  the  State  would  duplicate  any  amount 
that  was  raised. 

In  1851  Paterson  was  incorporated  as  a  city,  and  its  school  affairs 
took  on  a  more  satisfactory  aspect.  Measures  were  taken  in  1854  to 
organize  a  city  system  of  schools  on  a  plan  which  has  not  been  essen- 
tially changed.     So  far  as  regards  higher  education,  the  plan  to  main- 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  93 

tain  a  normal  school  for  the  training  of  teachers  for  the  public  schools 
was  entered  upon  in  1855.  This  school  continued  until  18G0,  when  it 
was  abandoned. 

Besides  these  instances  of  movements  in  behalf  of  higher  education 
there  were  several  sporadic  efforts,  which,  however,  were  not  continued, 
and  left  no  successors  behind  them.  The  only  school  of  secondary  edu- 
cation now  in  Paterson  is  the  high  school,  which  forms  the  summit  of 
the  public-school  system. 

In  several  of  the  less  important  places  of  Passaic  County  schools  of 
academic  grade  were  for  a  time  in  existence,  but  have  now  either 
entirely  ceased  to  exist  or  have  been  absorbed  by  the  public  schools. 
The  latter  has  nearly  always  been  the  case. 

SALEM    COUNTY. 

This  county  was  tirst  settled  by  the  Friends,  and  provision  was 
early  made  by  them  for  the  establishment  of  schools,  but  these  schools 
were  in  all  cases  of  an  elementary  character,  instruction  being  almost 
entirely  confined  to  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  In  later  times 
the  public-school  system  came  into  A^ogne,  and  everywhere  throughout 
the  county  schools  supported  by  taxation  and  free  to  all  were  set  up. 
The  high  school  in  the  city  of  Salem  is  the  only  school  of  secondary 
grade.  According  to  the  returns  made  in  the  Report  of  the  Ignited 
States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1802-93,  this  high  school  had  2 
teachers  and  11  scholars  in  the  secondary  grade.  Fourteen  scholars 
were  graduated  from  this  school  in  1893.  F.  E.  Place  was  at  this  time 
the  principal. 

SOMERSET    COUNTY. 

The  present  boundaries  of  Somerset  County  were  first  settled  in 
1G88,  but  were  afterwards  somewhat  modified.  The  first  residents 
were  Holland  families,  who  moved  hither  from  some  of  the  older  Hol- 
land settlements,  and  Scotch  immigrants,  who  came  into  the  country 
with  Governor  Carteret  and  his  successors.  All  of  these  settlers 
were  intelligent  and  enterprising,  and  therefore  took  early  steps  to 
provide  themselves  with  schools.  We  have  already  referred  to  the 
elementary  schools  which  sprang  up  among  them,  and  in  which  their 
children  obtained  a  certain  amount  and  kind  of  culture.  Besides  these 
elementary  schools  an  academy  was  founded  in  1801  at  Somerville. 
Dr.  Messier  gives  an  account  of  its  origin  in  his  Centennial  History 
of  Somerset  County.  A  number  of  gentlemen  had  met  to  celebrate  the 
Fourth  of  Jul}'.  After  the  exercises  were  completed  the  gentlemen 
present  engaged  in  a  free  conversation  concerning  the  establishment  of 
a  classical  school,  where  young  men  might  be  instructed  in  Latin  and 
Greek  and  prepared  to  enter  college.  Immediate  steps  were  taken 
and  a  subscription  started,  which  amounted  to  11,701.  A  building  was 
erected  and  the  school  was  opened  in  1802.  The  price  of  tuition  was  at 
first  fixed  at  $1  a  quarter,  but  was  afterwards  raised  to  $5.    The  school 


94  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

was  cliartered  in  180i  and  for  a  tiuie  continued  to  prosper.  With 
various  fortunes  it  lasted  to  1855.  There  arose  an  active  controversy 
about  the  use  of  the  buihling  for  a  public  school,  but  the  trustees  of  the 
public  school  finally  resolved  to  erect  another  building  better  suited  for 
school  purposes.  The  old  academy  lot  and  building  were  therefore  put 
up  at  auction  and  sold  and  the  proceeds  distributed  among  the  original 
subscribers  or  their  heirs  or  assigns. 

Tbe  first  schoolhouse  in  Bound  Brook  stood  near  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  on  a  site  which  is  now  included  in  the  church  grounds,  adja- 
ceut  to  the  graveyard.  The  first  teacher  seems  to  have  been  employed 
about  1742,  Others  succeeded  him,  and  a  new  building  called  the 
Academy  was  built  iu  the  year  1800  with  the  bequest  of  £500  left  by 
Michael  Field,'  who  died  in  1792.  In  this  building  Isaac  Toucey,  who, 
long  afterwards,  was  President  Buchanan's  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  was 
once  a  teacher.  The  old  academy  was  finally  demolished  in  1857,  and 
no  school  of  a  secondary  character  has  since  been  established. 

Besides  the  Soraerville  academy  for  boys  there  was  begun,  in  1848,  a 
school  for  girls  called  the  Somerset  Institute  for  Young  Ladies.  John 
Severance,  of  Massachusetts,  was  the  first  princii)al.  It  was  not  alto- 
gether a  successful  enterprise,  but  with  a  great  variety  of  fortune 
continued  down  to  recent  times. 

The  only  other  secondary  school  of  prominence  in  the  county  was  a 
classical  school  established  at  Basking  Ridge  by  the  Eev.  Samuel  Ken- 
nedy, M.  D.,  Avho  was  the  pastor  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  from  1750. 
He  was  a  Scotchman,  educated  at  Edinburgh,  and  was  an  accomplished 
classical  scholar.  The  school  prospered  under  Dr.  Kennedy's  energetic 
management,  and  after  his  death  was  even  more  successful  under  his 
successor,  Eev.  Robert  Finley,  who  began  his  pastoral  services  in  1795. 
Here  he  continued  until,  in  1817,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Georgia.  During  the  history  of  this  school  an  unusual 
number  of  prominent  men  were  educated  here,  who  received  their  first 
inspiration  from  these  men  of  genius  who  presided  over  this  little  insti- 
tution. 

SUSSEX  COUNTY. 

The  early  schools  in  Sussex  County  were  of  the  most  primitive  char- 
acter. For  instance,  here  is  a  description  of  an  old-time  school  previous 
to  the  Revolutionary  war: 

It  stood  at  thf  foot  of  a  ledge  of  rocks  at  the  bead  of  the  Captaiu's  Mill  Poud,  on 
ground  owned  by  Jacob  Honibrook.  It  was  built  of  logs,  was  16  feet  square,  one 
Btory  high,  with  a  roof  of  boards  battened  with  slabs.  The  floor  was  of  rough  plank 
and  there  was  no  ceiling,  the  rafters  and  crossbeams  being  open  from  below.  Slab 
benches  stood  around  a  hollow  sciuare.  A  rude  desk  for  writing  faced  the  end  of  the 
room,  which  was  pierced  l)y  a  window.  The  door  was  cut  in  two  parts — an  upper 
and  a  lower, 

'  Messler's  Centennial  History  of  Somerset  County,  p.  183. 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  95 

Little  is  kuowu  of  the  education  which  i)revailecl  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lutiou.  As  the  early  settlers  were  mostly  men  of  intelligence  ami 
enterprise, it  maybe  presumed  that  they  had  schools  for  the  education 
of  their  children  wherever  the  settlements  were  sufficiently  advanced. 
The  more  wealthy  citizens  sent  their  sons  to  Princeton  and  Rutgers, 
and  some  even  sent  them  to  Holland  and  Great  Britain.  The  clergy- 
men were  in  the  early  times  almost  always  school  teachers  as  well,  and 
in  any  case  were  the  leaders  in  promoting  plans  for  higher  education. 

It  was  ia  this  county  that  Rev.  Elias  Van  Benschoten  preached  to  the 
congregations  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  In  1814  he  made  a  dona- 
tion of  $14,040,  which  was  by  his  will  increased  to  $17,000,  to  the  gen- 
eral synod  and  the  trustees  of  Queen's  College  jointly,  for  the  i)urpose 
of  aiding  "  pious  j-onth  "  to  obtain  an  education  suitable  for  the  ministry. 
The  fand  has  been  faithfully  administered  and  has  helped  many  young 
men  in  the  manner  intended,  and  now  amounts  to  more  than  $20,000. 

The  schools  of  a  higher  education  may  be  enumerated  as  follows:  (1) 
In  1825  Rev.  Clarksou  Dunn,  the  rector  of  Christ  Church  in  Newton, 
established  in  that  village  a  classical  school  which,  although  small,  was 
eminently  successful  and  was  the  means  of  training  many  men  of  tal- 
ent and  usefulness.  (2)  In  1828  Rev.  Edward  Allen  established  a  school 
at  Clove,  where  he  was  then  stationed,  but  he  shortly  consolidated  his 
enterprise  with  that  of  Mr.  Dunn  and  removed  to  Newton.  (3)  Mr. 
Edward  A.  Stiles  opened  in  1833  a  boarding  school,  which  was  even- 
tually called  the  Mount  Retirement  Seminary.  It  was  situated  at 
Wantage  and  had  a  very  considerable  patronage. 

In  1833  William  Rankin  opened  a  select  classical  school  at  De(;ker- 
town.  He  had  been  a  successful  classical  teacher  in  various  places, 
and  was  a  man  of  genius  and  resolution.  He  came  to  Deckertown 
under  most  inausiiicious  circumstances,  and  started  his  school  without 
help  or  encouragement.  He  began  with  one  scholar,  who  was  not  a 
native  of  the  town  or  even  the  State.  But  his  pluck  and  ability  con- 
quered all  obstacles,  and  his  school  flourished  till  in  1865  Mr.  Rankin, 
overburdened  with  age  and  broken  health,  abandoned  it. 

UNION    COUNTY. 

A  so-called  grammar  school  was  started  in  17CG  at  Elizabethtown. 
Messrs.  Tapping  Reeve  and  Ebenezer  Pemberton  were  the  responsible 
heads  of  this  new  movement.  The  former  had  been  graduated  from 
Princeton  College  in  17C3,  and  was  employed  by  Mr.  Timothy  Edwards 
as  a  tutor  to  the  two  orphan  children  of  his  deceased  sister,  Mrs.  Burr, 
who  in  1758  bad  followed  her  husband  to  the  grave.  One  of  these  chil- 
dren was  the  second  and  distinguished  Aaron  Burr;  the  other  was 
Sarah  Burr,  whom  the  tutor  married.  After  his  school-teaching  he 
removed  to  Connecticut  and  became  a  judge  and  a  man  of  much  polit- 
ical importance.    The  partner  of  Mr.  Reeve  in  the  grammar-school 

~1> 


96  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

enterprise  was  the  son  of  Kev.  Ebeuezcr  Pembertou,  D.  1).,  at  one  time 
of  New  York  City,  but  subsequently  of  Boston. 

Tlie  school  Avas  from  the  first  successful,  and  many  young  men  were 
there  trained  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  branches  preparatory  for  col- 
lege. Money  was  subscribed  and  intrusted  to  the  Presbyterian  Church 
foi-  the  erection  of  a  new  and  suitable  building.  This  building  was 
accordingly  constructed  and  remained  until  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1779  by  the  British  troops. 

Mr.  Pembertou  having  returned  to  Princeton  as  tutor  in  the  college 
and  Mr.  Reeve  having  removed  to  Connecticut,  the  grammar  school 
was  continued  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Periam,  who,  with  one  interval, 
remained  in  charge  until  his  death,  in  1780.  During  this  time  Alexander 
Hamilton  was  one  of  the  pupils.  The  academy,  which  had  been  burned, 
was  rebuilt,  part  of  the  means  being  furnished  by  a  lottery  authorized 
in  17S9.  The  school  was  successively  conducted  by  Mr.  Patrick  Mur- 
dock,  Col.  John  Taylor,  Mr.  Samuel  Blackman,  Mr.  Henry  James 
Feltus,  James  Stevenson,  etc. 

There  was  a  young  ladies'  seminary  conducted  in  Elizabethtown. 
It  began  in  1789  but  was  not  long  continued.  A  French  school  was 
also  opened  in  1791,  which  was  devoted  to  imparting  to  young  ladies 
the  then  current  accomplishments.  Dr.  Paul  Michau  for  a  short  time 
also  gave  medical  lectures,  but  these  did  not  result  in  the  establishment 
of  any  permanent  school  for  medical  education. 

Thus  it  is  apparent  that  in  these  early  years  Elizabethtown  was  a 
place  of  advanced  culture,  and  both  politically  and  socially  was  eminent 
in  the  movements  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  a  patriotic  and 
intelligent  State.  In  modern  times  she  is  not  able  to  show  such  con- 
spicuous institutions  as  some  of  her  sister  cities;  but  she  can  fairly 
claim  to  have  given  the  first  impulse  to  Princeton  College,  and  to  have 
helped  on  all  the  great  educational  movements  of  the  State. 

Dr.  Pingry's  school  for  boys,  which  began  in  Fishkill,  X.  Y.,  in  1816, 
and  after  two  transfers  was  established  in  Elizabeth  in  18G1,  was  not 
abandoned  even  in  the  event  of  the  retirement  of  its  founder.  Miss 
Eanney's  distinguished  and  successful  school  for  girls  long  kept  up  the 
best  traditions  of  solid  and  accomplished  female  education. 

In  Kahway  we  have  early  accounts  of  the  survey  and  setting  apart  of 
lands,  the  income  of  which  was  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  schools. 
During  the  continuance  of  the  Pevolution  the  income  of  the  school 
lands  was  probably  expended  for  the  war.  The  Friends,  who  settled  in 
this  township,  established  a  school  as  early  as  1785.  There  was  a  build- 
ing, called  the  academy,  which  must  have  been  occupied  as  a  secondary 
school,  and  wliicli  stood  in  what  was  called  Tpper  Pahway.  Another 
building,  erected  in  1833,  known  as  the  Athenian  Academy,  stood  near 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  It  was  used  as  a  school  until  the 
organization  of  the  ])ublic  school  system.  It  is  also  one  of  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  place  that  Mrs.  Almira  Lincoln  Phelps  kept  a  boarding 


ACADEMIES  AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS.  97 

school  for  youug  ladies  here  for  a  short  time,  but  removed  to  Patapsco, 
Md.,  in  1841. 

Plainfield,  now  one  of  the  most  liourishiug  towns  in  Union  County, 
was  early  settled  by  the  Quakers,  and  therefore  was  provided  with 
schools.  Secondary  schools  of  consequence  have,  however,  been  rarely 
planted  here.  The  Plainfield  Academy,  a  boarding  and  day  school  for 
boys  and  young  men,  is  one  of  the  secondary  schools.  It  aims  to  give 
instruction  to  boys  in  various  branches  and  to  give  a  preparatory  train- 
ing for  college  to  those  who  desire  ir.  There  is  also  a  Friends'  select 
school  where  a  very  considerable  number  of  pupils  attend. 

WARREN    COUNTY. 

Warren  County  was  set  off  from  Sussex  County  in  1824.  We  learn 
of  a  school,  probably  the  oldest  within  the  bounds  of  the  county,  at 
Hackettstown,  in  1797.  This,  like  all  the  early  schools,  was  a  subscrip 
tion  school.  The  parents  who  desired  to  send  their  children,  subscribed 
for  them  and  paid  quarterly.  The  terms  were  about  $5  a  quarter,  and 
if  they  were  taught  unusual  subjects  the  rate  was  still  higher. 

There  are  two  schools  of  the  secondary  grade  now  flourishing  in  War- 
ren County,  which  are  worthy  of  particular  notice.  The  first  is  the  Blair 
Presbyterial  Academy  situated  in  Blairstown,  and  the  second  is  the 
Centenary  Collegiate  Institute  at  Hackettstown.  Below  will  be  found 
some  account  of  these  schools. 

15LAIR    I'RESBYTKRIAL   ACADEMY. 

This  institution  of  learning  was  established  originally  in  1818.  The 
lot  on  which  the  building  was  erected  was  given  by  John  I.  Blair,  and 
was  conveyed  to  a  board  of  trustees  on  the  condition  that  the  school 
should  be  conducted  under  the  control  of  the  session  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Blairstown.  The  school  was  opened  under  I.  W. 
Condit,  as  teacher.  In  the  following  summer  it  was  transferred  to  the 
presbytery  of  Newton  as  a  Presbyterial  academy.  [Jnder  a  succession 
of  principals  it  continued  until  18G7,  when  the  building  was  burned. 
Mr.  Blair  had  become  so  much  interested  in  the  enterj)rise  that  he 
replaced  the  original  wooden  building  by  one  of  stone.  He  ceded  this 
building,  togethei"  with  9  acres  of  land,  in  1870,  to  the  presbytery  of 
Newton.  lie  also  began  an  endowment  fund  by  a  gift  of  $.jO,000,  and 
established  fifteen  free  scholarships  for  the  children  of  ministers  in  the 
presbytery  of  Newton. 

By  subsequent  gifts  he  increased  tlie  endowment  and  imi)roved  the 
facilities  of  the  school.  In  18S3  he  added  $100,000  to  the  endowment. 
In  1885  he  gave  the  school  3  acres  of  adjoining  land.  He  has  built  and 
furnished  necessarj^  buildings  so  that  the  ecjuipmeut  of  the  school  is 
now  in  all  respects  most  complete.  The  gifts  of  Mr.  Blair  to  this  school 
of  secondary  education  have  been  about  8000,000.  In  recognition  of 
20687— No.  23 7 


08  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

■v^bat  Le  lias  done  in  its  behalf  it  has  been  called  the  Blair  Presbyterial 
Acadeiu3\ 

The  main  building  is  a  stone  structure,  120  feet  long,  having  two 
wings  each  75  by  30  feet.  A  uew  buihling,  entirely  fireproof,  provides 
conveniences  for  young  ladies.  A  gymnasium  hall  furnishes  Bot  only 
couveuiences  for  athletic  exercises  for  the  boys,  but  also  a  large  and 
suitable  hall  for  public  lectures  and  general  school  purposes.  Tlie 
ladies'  building  is  planned  to  furnish  an  adequate  gymnastic  hall  in 
the  third  story  for  the  girls  of  the  school. 

The  school  is  designed  by  its  founder: 

I.  To  provide  for  pupils  of  both  sexes  superior  advantages  in  pre- 
paring for  college  or  for  business. 

II.  To  make  the  rates  so  low  that  persons  of  moderate  means  may 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  school. 

III.  To  place  the  pupils  under  the  influences  and  restraints  of  a  well- 
ordered  Christian  home. 

The  plan  of  study  is  arranged  under  three  courses:  Classical,  scien- 
tific, and  literary.  These  correspond  substantially  with  like  courses  in 
the  best  secondary  schools.  In  addition  to  these  courses  there  is  for 
the  present  maintained  a  preparatory  course,  designed  to  supply  the 
deficiencies  of  i^upils  and  fit  them  to  enter  one  or  other  of  the  regular 
courses  of  the  school.  The  extent  and  arrangement  of  the  courses  are 
designed  to  prepare  the  pupils  in  the  most  thorough  manner  for  entrance 
at  the  best  colleges,  or  for  business  careers  on  which  they  desire  to 
enter. 

The  terms  for  board  and  instruction  are  as  follows:  For  tuition, 
board,  room,  etc.,  822.")  a  year;  tuition  of  day  pupils,  $40  a  year; 
church  sittings,  $3;  music,  French,  German,  and  bookkeeping,  $15  a 
year  extra. 

In  the  liejiort  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for 
1894-95  the  following  statistics  are  given : 

Name,  Blair  Presbyterial  Acaileiuy ;  religious  denoiniuation,  Presbyterian;  priu- 
cipal,  W.  S.  Eversole,  A.M.,  Ph.  D. ;  instructors,  8;  total  secondary  students,  137; 
graduates  1895,  9;  volumes  library,  1,200;  value  of  grounds,  and  buildiusi's,  etc., 
$400,000. 

CEXTENAKV    COLLEGIATE    INSTITUTE. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  body  projected  an  institution  of  learning  to 
commemorate  the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  establishment  of 
the  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States.  This  was  in  1866.  To 
carrj^  out  this  plan,  the  citizens  of  llackettstown  contributed  $10,000 
in  cash  and  10  acres  of  land  suitable  for  the  site  of  such  an  institution 
as  was  planned.  The  managers  of  the  enterprise  determined  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  building  only  so  fast  as  funds  were  in  hand.  David 
Campbell,  of  Xewark,  contributed  more  than  $20,000,  and  George  J. 
Ferry,  of  Orange,  over  $40,000.  The  clergy  subscribed  out  of  their 
own  means  $30,000,  and  their  C(mgregations,  including  the  two  generous 
contributors  above  mentioned,  pledged  themselves  for  $120,000.     The 


ACADEMIES   AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  99 

building  which  was  erected  is  of  the  most  substantial  description  and 
admirably  suited  for  such  a  school  as  was  to  be  established  in  it.  It 
was  dedicated  September  9, 1874,  and  was  opened  with  183  students,  of 
whom  130  were  boarders.  Rev.  George  H.  Whitney,  D.  D.,  was  the 
first  president. 

It  is  designed  for  both  male  and  female  students,  who  are  taught  in 
separate  departments.  The  department  for  young  women  is  chartered 
as  a  college,  with  the  power  of  conferring  degrees.  That  for  young 
men  is  designed  to  prepare  them  for  college,  in  which  it  has  been 
remarkably  successful.  The  attendance  since  the  establishment  of 
the  school  has  been  uniformly  large,  and  the  designs  and  hopes  of  the 
founders  have  been  more  than  fulfilled. 

Below,  is  given  a  sketch  of  the  Centenary  Collegiate  Institute,  by 
Eev.  George  H.  Whitney,  D.  D. 

The  following  statistics  are  taken  from  the  last  published  Eeport  of 
the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  referring  to  the  aca- 
demic year  1894-D5: 

Name,  Centenary  Collegiate  Institute;  location,  Hackettstown ;  denomination, 
Methodist  Episcopal;  president,  Kev.  W.  P.  I'ergusou,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D. ;  instructors,  14; 
secondary  students,  150;  elementary  students,  40;  graduates  (1895),  29. 

CENTENARY   COLLEGIATE   INSTITUTE    (NEWAKK   CONFERENCE   SEMINARY), 
HACKETTSTOWN,  N.  J. 

Bj-  Geor«e  H.  Whitney,  D.  D. 

Tlie  corner  stone  was  laid  September  9, 1869;  the  huilding  dedicated  September  9, 
1874. 

In  1857,  ■when  the  New  Jersey  Conference  was  divided,  the  Pennington  Seminary 
was  held  as  the  joint  property  of  the  conferences.  In  1865  the  Newark  Conference 
proffered  to  the  New  Jersey  Conference  its  interest  in  the  Pennington  Seminary,  on 
condition  that  the  seminary  remain  liable  for  its  incumbrances.  This  offer  was 
accepted  and  carried  into  eflect.  The  Newark  Conference  at  its  session  of  1866  (the 
centenary  year  of  Methodism)  resolved  to  erect  a  building  immediately,  to  cost  not 
less  than  $75,000.  During  the  year  the  sum  of  $12,000  was  contributed  to  this  object 
and  placed  on  interest.  Under  the  act  of  incorporation  the  following- named  gentle- 
men were  elected  by  the  conference  as  the  first  board  of  trustees:  Ministers,  J.  T. 
Crane,  John  S.  Porter,  A.  L.  Brice,  N.  Van  Saut,  J.  K.  Burr,  C.  S.  Yancleve;  laymen, 
George  T.  Cobb,  C.  Walsh,  W.  H.  Allison,  J.  G.  Barnett,  John  Iliff,  P.  M.  French.' 

Among  the  places  competing  for  the  honor  of  the  location  were  Bernardsville, 
Morristown,  Plaiufield,  Madison,  Flanders,  Washington,  and  Hackettstown.  After 
careful  consideration,  although  the  citizens  of  each  of  these  jilaces  made  liberal 
offers,  it  was  finally  decided,  after  the  conference  of  1868,  to  locate  the  seminary  at 
Hackettstown,  the  citizens  having  donated  10  acres  of  eligible  land  and  $10,000  in 
cash.  This  generous  gift  was  made  by  the  following-named  gentlemen  :  George  W. 
Johnson,  W.  L.  Johnson,  George  Roe,  Alpheus  Clanson,  R.  Q.  Bowers,  C.  H.  Valen- 
tine, Jacob  Welsh,  jr.,  Joshua  Curtiss,  David  Shields,  and  I.  W.  Crane.  Mr.  S.  D. 
Hatch,  of  New  York  City,  was  selected  as  the  architect,  and  to  Messrs.  Clanson  & 
Hazen  and  Stryker  Brothers,  of  Hackettstown,  was  awarded  the  contract  for  erecting 
the  building,  at  a  cost  of  $105,000,  which  sum  was  subsequently  increased,  by  the 
enlargement  of  the  plans,  to  $175,000.  The  corner-stone  services  occurred  on  Septem- 
ber 0,  with  addresses  by  Bishop  jNIatthew  Simpson,  Chancellor  Runyon,  Dr.  R.  L. 
Dashiell,  David  Campbell,  C.  Walsli,  and  Rev.  L.  R.  Dunn. 


100  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

Dnriug  this  year  (18G9)  the  Rev.  George  H.  "Whitney,  D.  D.,  was  elected  president 
of  the  institute — to  superintend  the  erection  of  the  bniklin  ;•,  to  solicit  funds,  and  to 
perfect  plans  for  the  best  STiccess  of  the  school  when  opened. 

Dr.  AVliituey  bad  already  made  a  fine  record  as  an  educator  and  as  a  writer,  being 
author  of  several  educational  volumes,  etc.  He  had  been  educated  at  the  best 
private  schools  of  Washington,  D.  C.  (in  which  city  he  was  born,  and  wbere  he  spent 
the  first  seventeen  years  of  his  life).  In  1854  be  was  graduated  from  the  Newark 
(N.  .7.)  Wesley  an  Institute,  at  the  head  of  his  class,  remaining  there  a  year  r.s  a 
member  of  the  faculty.  In  1858  be  was  graduated  froui  the  Wesloyau  University 
with  high  honor.  He  then  served  as  principal  of  Macedou  (N.  Y.)  Academy.  The 
following  year  he  was  cliosen  pi'esident  of  the  new  seminary  at  Oneida,  N.  Y.,  leav- 
ing that  school  two  years  later  in  the  highest  degree  of  prosperity,  with  over  200 
studeuts. 

Dr.  Whitney  then  entered  the  regular  ministry,  joining  the  Newark  Conference  in 
1861,  and  was  pastor  of  the  Trinity  M.  E.  Church,  Jersey  City,  in  1869,  wben  he  was 
chosen  jiresident  of  the  proposed  institute  of  Hackettstowu. 

The  erection  of  the  institute  building  progressed  slowly,  because  the  trusteos 
were  unwilling  to  incur  too  heavy  a  debt.  At  length  the  building  was  finished  and 
the  dedication  took  place  on  September  9,  1874. 

The  board  of  trustees  at  this  date  were:  Hon.  George  J.  Ferry,  president;  Rev. 
C.  S.  Coit,  treasurer;  Rev.  J.  K.  Burr,  D.  D.,  secretary;  and  Revs.  A.  L.  Brice,  J.  A. 
Kingsbury,  J.  R.  Bryan,  J.  T.  Crane,  and  Messrs.  Hon.  Peter  Smith,  M.  H.  Gillette, 
Samuel  Eddy,  Hiram  Rhodes,  Hou.  J.  C.  Ludlow. 

The  building  is  of  brick,  with  brownstone  trimmings,  the  front  being  221  feet 
long  by  47  wide,  with  a  central  extension  of  150  feet.  It  is  five  stories  high,  with 
mansard  roof,  having  a  central  tower  100  feet  high.  The  10  acres  of  grounds  were 
laid  out  with  fine  taste  and  planted  with  trees  and  shrubbery  of  extensive  variety. 
The  value  of  the  property  at  the  time  of  dedication  was  $175,000. 

Honorable  mention  could  be  made  of  many  who  contributed  to  this  grand  result. 
The  largest  givers  were  Hou.  George  J.  Ferry,  about  $50,000;  David  Campbell,  esq., 
$20,000;  M.  H,  Gillette,  esq. 

The  first  faculty  was  as  follows: 

Rev.  George  H.  Whitney,  A.  M.,  D.  D.,  president,  psychology  and  logic. 

Rev.  Henry  C.  Whiting,  A.  M.,  ancient  languages. 

Miss  M.  A.  Wragge,  preceptress,  French  and  physi  dogy. 

Loriu  II.  Batchelder,  A.  B.,  natural  sciences  and  mathematics. 

Charles  Grobe,  musical  director. 

Edward  A.  Whitney,  commercial  department. 

Joseph  8.  Smith,  phonography. 

Miss  Anna  Nicoll,  M.  L.  A.,  history  and  art. 

Miss  Fanny  Gulick,  M.  L.  A.,  English  literature  and  G(  rman. 

Miss  Stella  Waldo,  piano  and  organ. 

Miss  Laura  J.  Hanlon,  M.  E.  L.,  piano,  organ,  vocal  music. 

Mrs.  E.  G.  Munn,  matron. 

The  number  of  students  the  first  year  was  251,  of  whom  86  were  ladies.  The  gen- 
tlemen's curriculum  embraced  the  usual  studies  pursued  in  high-grade  college 
preparatory  schools,  together  with  courses  in  art,  music,  and  in  English  and  com- 
mercial branches.  The  ladies'  department  embraced  the  usual  courses  of  a  "ladies' 
college."  The  ladies  finishing  their  courses  received  in  the  classical  course  the 
degree  of  mistress  of  liberal  arts  (M.  L.  A.),  and  iu  the  l)elles  lettres  course,  mistress 
of  English  literature  (M.  E.  L.). 

During  the  twenty-one  years  from  the  opening,  in  1874,  to  June,  1895,  Dr.  Whitney 
rcnuiincd  as  president.  In  all  these  years  the  school  liad  unprecedented  success, 
and  for  more  than  half  these  years  students  were  declined  from  lack  of  room. 
Many  improvements  were  added,  viz,  a  library  and  museum;  society  halls  for  the 


ACADEMIES    AND    SECONDARY    SCHOOLS.  101 

four  literary  societies ;  new  buildings  for  a  ladies' gymnasium ;  a  gentleman's  gym- 
nasium ;  a  laundry,  with  additions  for  a  hospital ;  a  chemical  laboratory,  and  other 
minor  improvements;  bringing  the  value  of  the  property  up  to  $230,000,  and  with- 
out debt. 

In  the  historj'  of  the  school  no  deficit  has  ever  occurred  at  the  end  of  any  year,  the 
school  paj'ing  its  own  way  without  any  appeal  for  funds. 

In  June,  1895,  the  beginning  of  an  endowment  was  made  by  a  generous  gift  from 
Mrs.  Ulie  Norment  Hurley,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  establishing  the  Frank  Hurley 
memorial  funtl,  in  honor  of  her  son,  a  former  student  of  the  institute.  At  the  twenty- 
first  commencement  the  total  number  of  graduates  was  495,  while  more  than  2,000 
students  had  been  enrolled.  The  health  of  Dr.  Whitnej^  having  become  much 
impaired  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  resign  his  position.  Accordingh^,  at  the  twenty-first 
commencement,  he  severed  his  connection  with  the  institute,  after  having  held  the 
office  of  president  for  twenty-six  years.  Eesolutions  expressing  deep  regret  for  the 
necessity  of  his  resignation,  and  expressing  also  their  satisfaction  with  the  eminent 
success  of  his  long  administration,  were  passed  by  the  societies,  by  the  board  of 
trustees,  and  by  the  ministers  of  the  Newark  Conference.  A  banquet  was  tendered 
the  retiring  president,  a  reception  to  Dr.  and  Mrs,  Whitney,  when  many  valuable 
gifts  were  made  to  them  by  students  and  faculty,  by  the  trustees,  by  the  alumui, 
and  by  the  citizens  of  Hackettstown,  with  api)ropriate  addresses,  to  which  Dr. 
Whitney  replied.  Before  commencement  the  trustees  had  elected  as  Dr.  Whitney's 
successor  the  Kev.  Wilbert  P.  Ferguson,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  of  the  New  York  East 
Conference. 

On  commencement  day,  .June  1.3,  1895,  President  Whitney  delivered  his  final  address 
to  students,  faculty,  and  citizens.  The  president  elect  was  then  introduced  by  the 
Hon.  George  J.  Ferry,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  welcomed  by  Dr. 
Whitney. 


Chapter  VII. 

EDUCATIONAL    REMINISCENCES. 


By  Kev.  David  Cole,  D.  D. 


Sources  of  informatiou  as  to  events  of  1853-1858: 

1.  My  owu  memory,  wbicb  is  very  distinct. 

2.  A  paper  called  "The  New  Jersey  Life  Boat  and  Literary  Stand- 
ard,*' published  in  Xewark.  This  paper  was  started  by  Williaui  A. 
McKain.  No.  1  of  Volume  1  was  issued  September  24,  1853,  about  a 
month  before  the  new  educational  movement  began.  With  No.  1  of 
Volume  II,  dated  April  24,  1854,  this  paper  dropped  the  first  part  of 
its  title,  and  from  then  was  known  as  "The  New  Jersey  Literary 
Standard."  Its  new  editors  from  this  date  were  Fsaiah  Peckham  and 
William  E.  Howell,  Newark  teachers. 

3.  The  New  York  Teacher  of  1855  (Vol.  IV).  This,  during  1855,  had 
a  New  Jersey  department,  of  which  I  was  editor. 

4.  The  State  Reports  of  New  Jersey — superintendent's,  normal  school 
trustees',  normal  school  principal's,  etc.  Also  reports  of  State  Teachers 
Association,  and  of  State,  county,  and  town  educational  meetings, 
teachers'  institutes,  etc.,  from  the  beginning  onward. 

1  have  in  my  possession  a  bound  copy  of  the  Literary  Standard  (vols. 
1  and  2),  also  a  bound  copy  of  the  New  York  Teacher  (1855),  also  of 
each  of  the  normal  school  reports  of  the  first  few  years  (1855  onward). 

Take  as  a  point  of  time  from  which  to  start  October  20,  1853.  I  had 
then  been  principal  of  the  Trenton  Academy  two  years. 

Down  to  the  date  thus  given  New  Jersey  i)ublic  schools  were  on  the 
old  "deestrict"  basis.  Rate  bills  prevailed,  and  the  teachers  quite 
commonly  boarded  around.  Few  localities  had  felt  any  new  impulse. 
News  of  teachers'  institutes  had  reached  some  counties  (notably  Somer- 
set County),  and  now  and  then  an  institute  was  held,  always  at  the 
expense  of  the  teachers.  Dr.  Christo])her  C.  Hoagland  and  John  B. 
Thompson,  A.  M.,  were  the  prominent  leaders  of  these  institutes.  The 
latter  will  tell  you  all  about  them.  Book  publishers  and  authors 
promoted  them,  often  supplying  the  teaching  and  lecturing  talent  in 
the  interest  of  their  books.  These  institutes  started  things  a  little. 
But  the  State  never  supported  any  movements  with  a  dollar  of  appro- 
priation. 
102 


EDUCATIONAL    REMINISCENCES.  103 

The  State  superintendent  of  schools  of  the  time  was  Jolin  Henry 
Phillips,  M.  D.,  of  Pennington.  He  received  a  small  salary,  but 
the  State  had  no  idea  of  his  giving  his  whole  time  to  any  official 
duties.  He  was  paid  to  be  a  figurehead.  His  calling  was  his  medical 
profession. 

The  conscience  of  this  man,  however  (to  his  honor  be  it  said),  was 
alive  to  two  facts — that  the  public  school  system  of  the  State  was 
in  a  disgraceful  condition,  and  that  he  personally,  from  want  of  prac- 
tical educational  experience,  was  helpless  in  regard  to  it.  He  turned, 
in  his  conscious  helplessness,  to  a  few  leading  teachers  of  the  State 
(many  of  them  of  private  schools  and  academies),  and  nnder  their 
counsel  called  a  great  public  meeting.  This  meeting  was  held  Octo- 
ber 20,  1853,  in  the  Temperance  Hall  in  Trenton.  Representatives 
(male  and  female)  were  present  from  Burlington,  Essex,  Hunterdon, 
Mercer,  Ocean,  and  Somerset  counties.  Governor  Fort  was  called  to 
the  chair,  Dr.  Stephen  Conger,  of  Essex,  and  Dr.  C.  C.  Hoagland,  of 
Somerset,  were  chosen  vice  presidents;  Isaiah  Peckham,  of  Essex,  and 
W.  H.  Van  Nortwick,  of  Burlington,  were  appointed  secretaries.  The 
meeting  having  been  thus  organized,  the  State  superintendent,  with  the 
utmost  frankness,  threw  himself  at  once  upon  its  confidence,  admitting 
that  he  felt  absolutely  unequal  to  his  trust,  and  begging  to  be  taken 
up,  shaped,  and  guided  by  the  experienced  teachers  before  him.  Eeso- 
lutions  were  at  last  offered  by  a  committee,  chosen  for  the  purpose,  of 
which  I  was  myself  chairman,  and  after  long  discussion,  with  some 
modifications,  adopted.  They  called  for  free  education  everywhere;  for 
the  organization  of  associations  of  teachers  and  friends  of  education 
in  every  county  and  even  every  town;  for  a  State  superintendent,  to 
give  his  whole  time  to  his  work  and  receive  not  less  than  $1,500  per 
annum;  for  a  State  appropriation,  not  less  than  $K)0  per  year,  to  each 
county  for  an  annual  institute;  for  an  appropriation  to  each  district 
for  a  school  library,  and  flnally  for  the  adoption  of  a  State  educational 
journal.  (At  the  same  time,  the  Life  Boat  was  adopted  as  the  journal.) 
A  committee,  of  which  1  was  made  chairman,  was  appointed  to  present 
the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  to  the  legislature,  and  another  com- 
mittee, of  which  Dr.  Hoagland  was  chairman,  was  appointed  to  prepare 
and  publish  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  State.  Arrangements  were 
also  made  to  call  a  second  convention  soon,  with  the  view  of  developing 
it  into  a  State  Teachers'  Association.  These  committees  carried  out 
their  work  with  enthusiasm.  The  Life  Boat,  published  twice  every 
month,  devoted  itself  with  the  utmost  vigor  to  promotion  of  the  cause 
and  work. 

The  second  convention  was  held  in  the  Bayard  Street  public  school 
house.  New  Brunswick,  on  the  2Sth  of  December,  1853.  i^^athan  Hedges, 
of  Newark,  then  New  Jersey's  oldest  teacher,  was  chosen  chairman ;  Rob- 
ert L.  Cooke,  of  Bloomtield,  was  elected  vicechairinan ;  John  T.  Clark,  of 
the  New  Brunswick  school,  was  made  secretary,  Sussex,  Morris,  Hun- 
terdon, Somerset,  Middlesex,  Mercer,  and  Burlington  were  all — some  of 


104  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

tbem  largelj^ — represented.  A  State  association  was  formed.  Eobert 
L,  Cooke  was  chosen  president ;  John  T.  Clark  and  Isaiah  Peckham,  vice- 
presidents;  myself,  corresponding  secretary;  J.  K.Burnham,  of  Burling- 
ton, and  IT.  V.  Cox,  of  Morris,  recording  secretaries,  and  O.  A.  Kibbe, 
of  Somerset,  treasurer.  A  constitution  was  adopted  and  the  organiza- 
tion was  perfected.  1  can  not  now  give  details  of  the  meeting,  but  many 
practical  things  were  done.  Lively  work  was  laid  out  for  1854.  A 
memorial  to  the  legislature  was  formulated  and  adopted.  Governor 
Fort,  at  the  opening  of  the  legislature,  January,  1854,  crowded  his 
message  with  suggestions  insjiired  by  the  teachers  and  in  line  with  our 
committee  work.  This  was  sent  in  on  the  11th.  But  aluiost  at  once 
thereafter,  on  the  17th,  Governor  Eodman  M.  Price  was  inaugurated. 
His  inaugural  was  strong  along  our  lines  of  thought.  Dr.  John  II. 
Phillips,  State  superintendent,  had  opportunity,  through  his  report  of 
January  14,  to  give  the  new  moveuient  a  strong  impulse.  My  own  com- 
mittee— David  Cole,  David  ISTaar,  C.  C.  lloagUmd,  X.  Hedges,  and  J. 
Sandford  Smith — presented  our  memorial  or  petition  asking  for  the 
appropriations  of  which  1  have  spoken. 

The  Mercer  Couutj^  Teachers'  Association  was  organized  February  4, 
and  became  a  powerful  help.  The  association  invited  the  legislature 
to  atrend  one  of  its  sessions,  held  in  the  Trenton  Academy,  which  it 
did.  On  the  9th  of  February  Messrs.  J.  Sandford  Suiith,  John  B. 
Thompson,  and  myself  appeared  before  the  legislature,  in  joint  session 
in  the  assembly  chamber,  and  delivered  earnest  addresses  to  the  body — 
Mr.  Smith  first,  upon  this  proposition:  "The  improvement  and  perfec- 
tion of  her  public  school  system  is  J^ew  Jersey's  real  want  of  this  time;" 
John  B.Thompson  next,  on  "Teachers'  institutes,"  and  myself  last, 
upon  the  general  matters  included  in  oiir  then  pending  memorial.  The 
result  of  all  this  work  was  that  during  the  session  we  secured  all  the 
appropriations  for  which  we  appealed.  The  superintendency  was  put 
upon  a  solid  foundation,  the  teachers'  institute  bill  was  passed,  and  the 
State  ai)propriation  to  the  schools  was  largely  increased. 

At  the  adjourn uient  of  the  legislature  we  were  left  with  a  wonder- 
fully increased  momentum  behind  us.  Teachers'  institutes  started  up 
in  1854  in  many,  in  fact  in  most,  of  the  counties.  Associations  were 
formed  all  over  the  State.  All  the  force  we  had  was  called  into  requi- 
sition for  speaking  at  meetings.  We  ran  to  and  fro  and  knowledge  was 
increased  and  ciurage  grew.  The  revival  was  fairly  on,  and  everyone 
felt  it.  New  Jersey  was  arising  to  shine!  Dr.  IMiillips  had  become 
wideawake  and  was  sending  out  vigorous  State  papers  and  deliver- 
ing vigorous  addresses.  He  had  become  a  new  man.  The  Literary 
Standard  of  the  summer  had  all  it  could  do  to  report  the  proceedings 
of  institutes,  associations,  and  town  meetings.  The  State  bristled  with 
life  over  its  whole  area.  It  was  getting  ready  for  the  next  legislature,  to 
convene  in  January,  1855. 

It  was  on  the  !)th  of  February,  1855,  that  the  normal-school  act  was 
passed,     I  need  not  now  indulge  in  details  as  to  the  origin  of  the  bill. 


EDUCATIONAL    EEMINISCENCES.  105 

The  first  ten  trustees  of  the  school  were  (as  appointed  by  Governor 
Price) : 

First  Congressional  district,  James  G.  Hampton,  J.  H.  Thompson. 

Second  Congressional  district,  Eichard  S.  Field,  David  Cole. 

Third  Congressional  district,  Franklin  Kinney,  Charles  G.  Sitgress. 

Fourth  Congressional  district,  Thomas  Lawrence,  Lyman  S.  Chandler. 

Fifth  Congressional  district,  Dudley  S.  Gregory,  sr.,  William  ]\r. 
Babbit. 

We  held  our  first  meeting  in  the  executive  chamber  on  the  24th  of 
April,  1855.  From  this  time  onward  I  may  lefer  you  to  our  first  aiuraal 
report.  It  will  give  you  a  complete  account  of  our  work  during  the 
summer  of  1855,  including  the  steps  taken  to  locate  the  school,  result- 
ing finally  in  the  choice  of  Trenton ;  to  initiate  the  Farnum  Preparatory 
School  at  Beverly,  etc.  The  school  was  finally  opened  in  a  building  at 
the  corner  of  Hanover  and  Stockton  streets,  Trenton,  October  1,  1855. 
Tlie  corner  stone  of  the  new  building  (the  first)  was  laid  on  the  9th. 
The  building  was  pushed  forward  rapidly  and  was  opened  for  pupils 
on  the  17th  of  March,  1850. 

All  remaining  matters  of  interest  you  will  get  from  the  printed 
reports  and  other  documents.  I  lived  and  moved  and  had  my  being  in 
the  events  of  those  days.  1  have  given  you  such  minute  early  accounts, 
so  that  you  may,  as  you  are  writing  your  history,  be  almost  consciously 
present  with  the  events  of  which  you  wish  to  write. 

One  thing  only  remains  of  which  I  must  speak,  not  for  my  own  exal- 
tation, but  that  you  may  understand  niy  vital  connection  with  the 
movements  and  events  of  those  days.  It  was  strange  that  I,  never  a 
public-school  teacher,  and  having  all  the  support  and  encouragement 
I  needed  in  my  own  academy  work,  should  have  gone  so  heartily  into 
those  old  movements.  But  there  were  at  least  a  dozen  spirits  con- 
genial to  me  who  shared  my  feeling:  Peckham,  Smith,  Howell,  and 
others  of  Newark ;  Thompson,  then  of  Flemingtori ;  Clark  of  NewBruns- 
wick,  and  several  others.  We  had  the  leading  positions  as  teachers  in 
New  Jersey.  Dr.  Phillips  came  to  us  instinctively,  and  we  met  him 
warmly.  As  for  me,  I  had  special  advantages  for  observation  and 
study  of  things  and  men,  being  in  Trenton  and  knowing  every  day 
what  the  legislators  were  doing  and  Low  they  felt.  It  was  i)erfectly 
natural  that  Governor  Price  appointed  me  one  of  the  first  trustees.  He 
knew  me  and  my  work  in  the  acac'emy  and  my  intense  interest  in  the 
normal  school  project.     This  accounts  for  my  trusteeship. 

One  of  our  earliest  matters  after  determining  the  location  of  the 
school  was  the  selection  of  a  principal.  My  associates  earnestly  pressed 
the  place  upon  myself.  Their  i)leadings  for  this  are  as  fresh  in  my 
memory  as  if  they  had  just  occurred.  But  for  two  reasons  I  firmly 
declined  it:  First,  because  I  knew  I  was  an  academician  and  not  a  nor- 
malisf;  and,  secondly,  because  I  knew  some  of  my  dear  friends,  no  more 
adapted  to  it  than  myself,  desired  it.  I  determined  to  stand  by  princi- 
ple and  have  the  right  man  at  all  hazards.     I  visited  Albany,  inspected 


106  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

tbe  iiioveineiits  and  methods  of  William  F.  Plielps,  came  home  resolved 
to  have  liim,  aud  I  got  him.  He  proved  to  be  in  all  resi)ects  tlie  planner 
and  organizer  I  thought  he  was.  He  served  that  period  as  well  as  or 
better  than  anyone  else  I  know  would  have  served  it. 

In  Jidy,  1857,  Professor  Phelps  persuaded  me  to  leave  my  academy 
position  and  become  a  j)rofessor  of  Greek  and  Latin  iu  the  school.  He 
had  the  ambition  to  develop  the  institution  into  a  land-overshadowing 
university.  He  called  in  heads  of  departments,  of  which  he  wished 
me  to  be  one.  I  declined,  but  being  pressed,  reconsidered  and  accepted. 
I  was  already  en  route  for  the  ministry,  and  in  April,  1858, 1  was  licensed. 
At  the  close  of  the  school  year  (July,  1858)  I  resigned  my  professorship 
and  soon  after  accepted  a  call  to  the  pastorate  at  East  Millstone.  I 
was  ordained  November  23,  1858,  retained  my  pastorate  till  April  1, 
1803,  when  I  took  my  chair  at  Rutgers  College. 


Chapter  VIII. 

THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  CENTURY. 


By  JoHX  BoDiNE  Thompson. 


It  gives  me  pleasure  to  respond  to  the  request  for  such  information 
as  I  may  be  able  to  give  respecting  events  in  the  history  of  education 
in  New  Jersey.  What  knowledge  I  have  upon  this  topic  has  been 
derived  mostly  from  tradition  and  personal  intercourse.  My  i)aternal 
grandfather's  home  was  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  English  and  Scotch 
and  Irish  and  American  schoolmasters;  and  the  old  kitchen  at  the 
westerly  end  of  his  long,  low,  red  house,  fronting  toward  the  south, 
was  used  as  a  schoolhouse.  The  accompanying  illustration  may  be  of 
interest.  Three  of  his  sons  became  schoolmasters,  as  did  also  three 
of  the  sons  of  my  maternal  grandfather. 

My  father's  home  was  in  turn  a  refuge  for  the  young  women  from 
New  England  and  New  York  who  were  teachers  of  New  Jersey  schools 
in  the  days  of  my  youth.  It  was  the  privilege  of  my  brothers  and 
myself,  with  horses  and  carriage,  to  bring  them  from  their  dreary 
schoolhouses  on  Friday  evening  and  to  return  them  thither  again  on 
Monday  morning,  refreshed  and  invigorated  with  sympathy  and  rest; 
and  similar  environment  joined  with  heredity  to  produce  again  similar 
results.  Four  of  my  father's  children  and  the  three  cliildren  of  his 
younger  brother  became  teachers,  as  did  also  at  least  eight  of  the  suc- 
ceeding generation. 

After  serving  due  apprenticeship  in  so  honorable  a  calling,  it  became 
my  duty  to  travel  throughout  my  native  State  for  three  years,  "teach- 
ing teachers  how  to  teach,"  lecturing  on  ]iopular  education,  endeavor- 
ing to  awaken  a  general  interest  in  the  subject,  and  especially  to  incite 
desire  for  a  State  normal  school. 

To  do  this  properly  required  some  knowledge  of  the  past  history  of 
the  work;  and  this  knowledge  was  acquired  largely  from  the  books 
and  pamphlets  and  documents  which  had  been  accumulating  during 
preceding  generations.  In  what  follows  I  shall  draw  freely  upon 
memoranda  made  at  that  time,  as  well  as  upon  memory,  adding  also 
what  may  seem  of  interest  from  other  sources,  omitting  most  that  is 
well  known,  and  giving  special  attention  to  illustrative  details  which 
might  otherwise  perish  from  the  memory  of  men.  The  narrative  will 
necessarily  be  desultory  and  personal,  though  I  trust  not  offensively 
so.     I  will  endeavor  to  make  it  approximately  chronological. 

107 


108  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

I.   COLONIAL   SCHOOLS. 

The  first  civilized  people  wlio  settled  within  the  limits  of  the  present 
State  of  New  Jersey  were  natives  of  the  European  Netherlands,  and 
they  named  the  country  to  which  they  came  ]Srew  Xetherland.  They 
had  inherited  the  immanent  moral  life  and  steadfastness  of  purpose, 
as  Avell  as  the  customs,  characteristic  of  their  ancestors;  hence,  educa- 
tion came  with  them,  the  free  schools  in  which  Holland  led  the  van  of 
the  world  being  early  transplanted  to  these  shores.' 

Although  the  colony  was  very  feeble  for  fifty  years,  there  were  in 
that  period  of  time,  almost  continuously,  public  schools  free  to  all,  main- 
tained and  managed  by  the  colony;  and  the  law  of  the  colony  required 
that  each  householder  and  inhabitant  should  bear  such  tax  and  public 
charge  as  should  be  considered  proper  for  their  maintenance.  America 
is  indebted  to  the  Dutch  for  the  essential  principles  of  the  great  free- 
school  system  in  the  country.^ 

As  early  as  1629  the  West  India  Company,  under  whose  charge  the 
first  colonists  came,  enacted  a  law  which  required  the  establishment  of 
schools;  and  the  school  founded  April  2,  1033,  with  Adam  Roelandsen 
as  schoolmaster,  is  still  doing  excellent  work.^ 

In  1650,  Jan  Cornelissen  was  the  schoolmaster  in  New  Amsterdam. 
In  1658  a  petition  was  sent  to  the  West  India  Company  for  a  Latin 
schoolmaster,  predicting,  as  an  inducement  for  compliance  with  the 
request,  that 

the  nuinber  of  persons  who  will  send  their  children  to  snch  a  teacher  will,  from  year 
to  year,  incroaso  until  such  academy  shall  be  formed,  whereby  this  place  to  great 
splendor  will  have  attained;  for  which,  next  to  God,  the  honorable  company  which 
shall  have  sent  snch  teacher  here  shall  have  laud  and  praise.^ 

The  i)etition  was  granted,  and  Dr.  Alexander  CarolusCurtius  opened 
the  first  Latin  school  in  the  colony,  July  4,  1G50.  His  salary  was  500 
guilders.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Egidius  Luyck,  who  had  been 
tutor  to  Governor  Stuyvesani's  sons.''  Under  his  charge  this  school 
attained  so  high  a  reputation  that  children  were  sent  to  it  even  from 
Delaware  and  Virginia. 

October  6,  1662,  Englebert  Steenhuysen  was  licensed  to  be  a  school- 
master in  the  town  of  Bergen.  His  salary  was  250  florins  annually', 
payable  in  seawant  (wampuih),  with  some  perquisites.  Among  thesse, 
he  claimed  freedom  from  taxation  upon  his  real  estate,  asserting  that  a 
schoolmaster  ought  to  be  exempt  from  all  taxes  and  burdens  of  the 
village,  and  that  this  was  the  common  practice  throughout  the  whole 


'  See  The  Early  American  S]iirit  and  the  Genesis  of  it,  by  Richard  Salter  Storrs,  D.  D. 

-Dr.  Andrew  S.  Draper,  recently  superintendent  of  public  schools  of  New  York, 
in  the  Educational  Review  for  April,  1892. 

•'The  School  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Church  in  New  York  City.  See  O'Calla- 
ghan's  History  of  New  Nctherland,  Vol.  I,  pp.  119,  143. 

'  Hon.  Henry  W.  Bnokstaver,  LL.  D.,  in  the  Christian  Intelligencer. 

■'•American  Church  History  Series,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  41. 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  109 

Cbristiau  world.  The  claim  not  being  allowed,  be  resigned  after  teach- 
ing five  quarters,  bat  an  appeal  to  the  council  of  New  Netherland  com- 
pelled him  to  complete  the  second  year  of  service  upon  which  he  had 
entered.  His  was  the  first  school  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  New 
Jersey.' 

September  8,  IGG-t,  the  country  was  surrendered  to  the  English,  with 
the  stipulation,  however,  that  the  inhabitants  were  to  be  allowed  to 
continue  their  own  customs  and  usages.  Accordingly  the  charter 
granted  to  the  town  of  Bergen,  September  22,  1C68,  provided  that  all 
jiersons  should  contribute  according  to  their  estates  and  proportions  of 
land  for  the  keeping  of  a  free  school  for  the  education  of  yonth. 

From  August  9,  1673,  to  November  10,  1G74,  the  country  was  again 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Dutch.  December  2,  1G73,  three  lots  were 
set  apart  for  the  free  school  of  Bergen,  and  this  was  doubtless  the  first 
endowment  for  free  schools  in  the  State.  December  24, 1G73,  the  coun- 
cil of  New  Netherland  ordered  that  all  the  inhabitants,  without  any 
exception,  shall,  pursuant  to  the  resolution  of  the  town  of  Bergen, 
dated  December  18, 1G72,  and  subsequent  confirmation,  pay  their  share 
for  the  support  of  the  said  voorleezer  and  schoolmaster.^ 

In  1084  Guilliam  Bertholf  came  to  this  country  and  became  one  of 
the  most  noted  of  the  Dutch  schoolmasters.  I  have  seen  a  manuscript 
in  possession  of  the  Hon.  William  Nelson,  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society,  dated  April  10,  1G93,  in  which  Ber- 
tholf describes  himself  as  "  Schoolmeester  en  oi'dinere  schryver,  ten 
durjie  Aquigenonck  residerende" — schoolmaster  and  authorized  scrive- 
ner residing  at  Acquackanonck.  He  taught  also  at  Hackensack  and 
in  other  places.^ 

As  early  as  1G40  the  Swedes  had  settled  upon  "the  north  side  of 
South  Kiver"  (the  Delaware),  with  the  stipulation  that  they  should 
support  at  all  times  ministers  and  schoolmasters.* 

'  He  was  also  the  voorleezer  (forereader),  whose  business  it  was  to  read  the  Scrip- 
tures in  public  worship,  to  announce  the  hjmns,  and  to  lead  the  singing,  as  well  as 
to  catechise  the  children  during  the  week.  The  word  is  often  rendered — by  the  too 
limited  terms — chorister,  jirecentor,  or  clerk. 

-New  .Jersey  Archives,  Vol.  I,  p.  141.  These  dates  are  new  style,  the  Dutch  having 
adopted  the  correction  of  the  calendar  a  century  in  advance  of  the  English. 

^Lilve  other  men  of  the  day,  Bertholf  spelled  his  name  variously.  He,  too,  was 
voorleezer  and  catechizer  as  well  as  schoolmaster.  Soon  after  executing  the  paper 
above  mentioned  he  went  to  the  Netherlands.  Retirrning,  he  arrived  at  Hacken- 
sack from  Zeeland  February  24,  1694,  "with  a  legal  classical  authorization  to  be 
preacher,  pastor,  and  instructor  of  Acquigenonck  and  Ackeusack."  For  fifteen 
years  thereafter  he  was  the  only  Dutch  jireacher  in  New  Jersey,  and  was  practically 
the  pastor  of  all  the  churches  north  of  the  Raritan,  as  well  as  those  on  Staten 
Island  and  at  Tarrytown.  Feeble  with  age,  he  formallj'  resigned  his  pastorate 
March  23, 1724,  and  died  the  same  year.  (Hackensack  Church  records;  Nelson  man- 
uscripts, and  the  printed  report  of  addresses  at  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  old  Dutch  Church  of  Sleepy  Hollow,  October  10,  1897.) 

^Hazard's  Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  53. 


110  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

September  23,  1675  (old  style),  John  Feuwick,  with  other  adherents 
of  George  Fox,  arrived  from  Loudon  (in  the  "ship  Griping  liobert 
GrifBn,  master,  being  the  first  English  ship  that  was  bound  to  this  part 
of  the  province"),  at  the  place  whicli  the  resideut  Swedes  called  Elsiu- 
burg,  but  which  Feuwick  named  New  Salem.  It  is  probable  that  they 
brought  a  schoolmaster  with  them,  though  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
find  a  record  of  the  fact.^ 

Education  was  part  of  the  religion  of  these  people.  To  them  the 
schoolhouse  was  scarcely  second  in  importance  to  the  meetinghouse 
and  was  usually  placed  under  the  same  roof  witli  it.  Fenwick's  settle- 
ment at  Salem  opened  a  school  soon  after  its  establishment  and  main- 
tained it  without  interruption  to  the  present  day.^ 

Tlie  settlement  at  Burlington  exhibited  a  wonderful  degree  of  prog- 
re.sis,  both  in  the  appreciation  of  learning  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
best  plan  for  the  support  of  public  schools.  September  28,  1082,  the 
island  of  Matiniconck,  in  the  Delaware,  containing  300  acres  of  land, 
opposite  the  town,  was  set  apart  for  educational  purposes,  and  the 
revenue  derived  from  tbe  rent  or  sale  of  tlie  lands  was  reserved  for  the 
support  of  schools  for  the  education  of  children  in  the  adjoining  settle- 
ments.    It  is  still  used  for  the  support  of  schools  in  Burlington. 

The  earliest  settlers  in  the  town  of  Newark  brought  ]ireachers  and 
schoolmasters  with  them.  By  the  side  of  the  log  church  the  log  school- 
house  was  erected,  and  schools  were  established  and  supervised  by 
church  authorities.  The  earliest  record  of  any  action  of  a  public  nature 
by  this  people  was  in  1070.  Tlie  record  reads  that  the  townsmen  have 
liberty  to  see  if  they  can  find  a  competent  number  of  scholars  and 
accommodations  for  a  schoolmaster.  Further  instructions  were  given 
at  the  next  town  meeting  as  follows: 

The  town  hath  couseuted  that  the  townsmen  shall  perfect  the  bargain  with  the 
schoolmaster  for  this  year,  ujjon  condition  that  he  will  come  for  this  year  and  do  his 
faithful,  houest,  and  true  endeavor  to  teach  the  children  or  servants  of  those  who 
have  subscribed  the  readinjf  and  writing  of  English,  and  also  of  arithmetic  if  they 

'  There  is  no  passenger  list  of  the  Griffin  in  this  country.  Samuel  Hedge,  who  mar- 
ried Fenwick's  daughter  Anne  and  became  recorder  of  the  colony,  once  began  such  a 
list,  but  after  making  a  record  of  the  Feuwick  families  and  their  ten  servants,  added 
only  the  names  of  Mark  Reeve,  Edward  Webb,  Elizabeth  Waites,  and  John  Smith. 
At  this  point,  apparently,  he  was  interrupted,  iind  the  writing  was  never  resumed. 
(See  Salem  Records,  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  at  Trenton.) 

2 Report  of  State  Superintendent  Apgar  for  the  year  1879,  p.  36.  Ellis  A.  Apgar 
was  born  at  Pea])ack,  Somerset  County,  March  20,  1836,  and  received  a  common- 
school  education  in  that  village.  He  graduated  at  the  State  Normal  School  in  Tren- 
ton in  1859,  and  at  Rutgers  College  in  1866.  He  was  at  once  chosen  by  the  recently 
established  State  Board  of  Education  to  be  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  a 
position  which  he  held  with  credit  to  himself  and  profit  to  the  State  for  nineteen 
years.  His  report  for  1879  contains  a  r<58ume  of  the  history  of  education  in  New  Jer- 
sey. From  this  report  the  following  quotations  respecting  colonial  schools  are 
taken,  save  such  as  are  otherwise  credited.  The  alterations  necessary  to  fit  them  to 
my  purpose,  though  unimportant,  are  so  numerous  that  he  can  not  be  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  i)rescnt  form  of  the  (j notations. 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  Ill 

desire  it,  as  much  as  they  are  capable  to  learn  and  he  capable  to  teach  them  withiu 
the  compass  of  this  year;  nowise  hindering  but  that  he  may  make  what  bargain  he 
please  with  those  who  have  not  subscribed. 

The  records  show  that  trustees  were,  by  vote  of  tlie  town,  clioseu 
year  by  year  to  hire  a  schoolmaster. 

In  1GS9  the  town  of  Woodbridge  voted  that  James  Fullertou  be 
entertained  in  this  town  as  a  schoolmaster,  and  be  encouraged  by  such 
as  see  cause  to  employ  hiui. 

December  10,  1091,  John  Boacker  was  offered  £13  to  teach  six 
months  on  trial  in  this  town,  with  the  proviso  that  he  shall  be  constant 
and  faithful  in  that  employ  as  a  schoolmaster  ought  to  be,  and  that  he 
shall  be  engaged  to  attend  the  school  this  winter  time  until  9  o'clock 
at  night. 

There  were  at  this  time  10,000  people  in  the  province,  and  the  want 
of  schoolmasters  was  seriously  felt.  October  12,  1G93,  the  assembly  of 
East  Jersey,  in  session  at  Perth  Amboy,  enacted  a  law  in  accordance 
with  which  the  inhabitants  of  every  town,  by  warrant  from  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  might  meet  and  choose  three  men  to  make  a  rate  and  estab- 
lish the  salary  of  a  schoolmaster  for  as  long  a  time  as  they  may  think 
proper;  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  to  compel  the  payment  of  any 
rates  levied  and  uncollected;  the  act  setting  forth  that  "the  cultiva- 
tion of  learning  and  good  manners  tells  greatly  to  the  good  and  benefit 
of  mankind."  '  In  169o  this  act  was  sui)plemented  by  another,  directing 
the  choice  of  three  men  in  each  town  to  be  authorized  to  select  a  teacher 
and  the  most  convenient  place  or  places  where  schools  should  be  kept. 

Under  these  laws  schools  became  numerous.-  Usually  they  were 
established  by  Christian  people  in  connection  with  their  churches.  Yet 
in  1701  Col.  Lewis  Morris  wrote  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  that  in  both  East  and  West  Jersey  the  youth  were  "very 
debauched  and  very  ignorant."  '  September  2, 1718,  a  schoolmaster  by 
the  name  of  John  Richards  gave,  from  a  "desire  to  promote  the  public 
interest,  3^  acres  of  laud,  situated  and  being  in  the  township  of  Whip- 
ponong  (Whippany),  in  that  part  called  Percipponong,  on  the  north- 
western side  of  Whipponong  IJiver;  only  for  ]>ublic  use,  improvement, 
and  benetit,  for  a  meetinghouse,  schoolhouse,  burying  yard,  and  train- 
ing field,  and  such  like  uses,  and  no  other."  ^ 

In  17-50  and  for  many  years  after  Jacobus  Schureman  was  school- 
master, voorleezer,  and  helper  for  his  pastor  and  brothar-in-law,  Theo- 
dorus  Jacobus  Frelinghuysen,  at  New  Brunswick,  Somerville,  and  other 
parts  of  Somerset  County,  as  these  localities  are  now  named.-^    May  1, 

'  The  Grants  and  Concessions  and  Original  Constitutions  of  the  Province  of  New 
Jersey,  by  Aaron  Leaming  and  Jacob  Spicer,  pp.  328  et  seq. 

-The  People's  Cyclopedia,  Vol.  I,  p.  617. 

'  Classified  Digest  of  the  Kecords  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
1894,  p.  52. 

*  Barber  and  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  New  Jersey,  p.  380. 

^  Schureman  Genealogy,  by  Kichard  Wyukoop,  pp.  5,  6. 


112  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

1742,  James  Billington,  sclioolmaster,  etc.,  from  Elizabeth  town,  was 
uuited  in  marriage  with  "Anna  America,"  at  Acquackauouck,  by  Rev. 
Johannes  van  Driessen.' 

Effort  for  the  establishment  of  free  schools  was  antagonized  by  the 
royal  governors.  They  i)referred  "the  old  British  method  of  educating 
the  higher  class  for  governing,  with  the  masses  left  to  the  claim  of 
charity."^  In  the  communication  of  the  governor  of  New  York,  asking 
for  the  approval  of  the  charter  of  King's  College,  he  bluntly  expresses 
the  desire  "to  prevent  the  spread  of  reimblican  principles."  * 

In  other  instances  this  motive  cooperated  with  ecclesiastical  preju- 
dice to  oppose  the  founding  of  colleges.  Nevertheless,  two  colleges 
were  founded  in  New  Jersey  during  the  colonial  period.  The  charters 
of  both  these  institutions  were  granted  by  governor  and  council  acting 
in  the  name  of  the  King,  but  no  copy  of  the  first  charter  of  either  can 
now  be  found.  Perhaps  these  original  charters  were  nevbr  recorded  or 
published,  for  fear  of  being  disallowed  at  court,  as  that  of  Harvard  had 
been  a  century  earlier.  The  tenth  edition  of  Salmon's  Geographical 
and  Historical  Grammar,  issued  in  London  the  year  of  the  founding  of 
Queen's  College,  complains  that  the  colonies  "ought  to  transmit  to 
Great  Britain  authentic  co])ies  of  the  several  acts  passed  by  them;  but 
they  sometimes  neglect  it,  and  pass  temporary  laws  which  have  their 
full  effect  before  the  Government  here  can  have  due  notice  of  them." 
However  this  may  be,  in  each  of  these  cases  two  years  later  a  second 
charter  was  issued,  under  which  the  college  did  its  work. 

The  charter  of  Queen's  College  (now  liutgers)  was  modeled  after  that 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  (now  Princeton  University),  as  this  had 
been  modeled  after  that  of  Harvard.  Queen's  College  was  so  called 
with  reference  to  King's  College  (now  Columbia  University),  which  had 
been  chartered  by  the  legislature  of  New  York,  October  31,  1754. 
Sixty  days  after  that  date,  January  1,  1755,  Theodore  Erelinghuyseu 
began  his  memorable  winter  journey  on  horseback  from  Albany  to 
New  Y'ork  and  New  Brunswick  in  behalf  of  a  university  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Dutch  inhabitants.  Undaunted  by  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather  and  the  difrtculties  of  travel  or  the  discouragements  of 
op])onents,  he  fired  the  hearts  of  the  peoi)le  on  the  Hudson,  the  Hack- 
ensack,  the  Passaic,  and  the  Karitan  with  an  enthusiasm  as  intense  as 
their  persistency  of  purpose. 

May  17,  1755,  a  score  of  these  men  met  and  adopted  the  following- 
resolution  : 

Iiiasiuuch  as  it  is  ex])edipnt  to  establish  in  these  recently  inhabited  ends  of  the 
earth  seminaries  of  true  ]>hilosophy  as  well  as  of  sound  doetriue,  that  men  may  be 
imbued  with  the  principles  of  human  wisdom,  virtue,  and  unostentatious  piety; 

'  Records  of  the  church  of  Acquackanouck  (now  Passaic),  which  I  inspected, 
August  21,  18i»7. 

-  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  LL.  I).,  in  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1893-94, 
pp.  732,  733. 

'Compare  Governor  Berkeley,  of  Virginia,  in  his  well-known  deliverance,  "I  thank 
(iod  there  are  no  free  schools  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hun- 
dred vears.'' 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  113 

therefore,  we  do  resolve  in  these  present  critical  times  to  strive  with  all  our  energy 
and  in  the  fear  of  God  to  i)lant  a  university  or  seminary  for  young  men  destined  for 
study  in  the  learned  languages  and  in  the  liberal  arts,  and  who  are  to  be  instructed 
in  the  philosophical  bcieuces;  also  that  it  may  he  a  school  of  the  prophets,  etc' 

The  royal  governors,  however,  repeatedly  refused  their  request  for  a 
charter,  and  it  was  eleven  years  before  they  succeeded  in  carrying  this 
resolution  into  efl'ect.  Even  then  the  charter  they  were  able  to  secure 
was  much  inferior  to  what  they  had  so  long  desired,  though  it  professed 
to  establish  a  ''college  in  which  the  American  youth  might  be  regularly 
educated  after  the  manner  and  customs  of  the  United  Provinces." - 

'  Document  794,  as  now  numbered,  of  "  the  Amsterdam  correspondence,"  which 
passed  between  the  classis  of  Amsterdam  and  the  Dutch  ministers  in  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  between  1628  and  1792.  The  original  Latin  may  be  seen  in  Corwin'a 
Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  second  edition,  page  353.  Document  795 
was  adixplicate  in  Dutch,  and  contained  the  names  of  the  laymen  as  well  as  the  min- 
isters present.  Unfortunately  this  document  could  not  be  found  when  the  others 
were  deposited  in  the  Sage  library  at  New  Brunswick  in  1875.  A  copy  may  have 
been  printed  before  that  in  the  Christian  Intelligencer  or  elsewhere. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Tanjore  Corwin,  the  oiBcial  historiographer  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America,  has  recently  gone  to  Holland,  to  secure  the  remainder  of  this 
correspondence,  uuder  the  following  commission : 

The  General  Syxod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America, 

Trenton,  N.  J.,  May  1,  1S97. 
To  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  Netherlands,  the  Synod  of 
North  Holland,  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam,  and  other  ecclesiastical  authorities  to 
whom  these  presents  may  come,  greeting: 

Fathers  and  Brethren:  Herewith  we  send  to  you,  in  our  behalf  and  with  our 
authority,  the  well-known  historian  of  our  Reformed  Church  in  America,  the  Rev. 
Edward  T.  Corwin,  D.  D. 

Through  your  kindness  several  years  ago  we  came  into  the  possession  of  much  of 
your  correspondence  with  the  American  churches  during  the  colonial  period.  We 
now  respectfully  request  that  Dr.  Corwin  may  be  permitted  to  secure  for  us  copies 
of  the  remaining  documents  in  your  archives,  which  illustrate  our  history. 

Some  of  your  correspondence  with  the  churches  in  America  has  been  printed  by 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  we  have  assurance  that  when  our  collection  is  complete 
the  whole  will  be  printed  by  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  the  two  States  of  the  Ameri- 
can Union  comprising  the  ancient  territory  of  New  Netherland. 

With  this  communication  we  send  to  you  a  priuted  history  of  these  documents, 
prepared  by  our  brother  herewith  commended  to  you. 

These  credentials  are  furnished  him  by  direction  of  the  General  Synod  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America  at  its  session  held  in  the  village  of  Catskill  and  State 
of  New  York,  from  the  3d  to  the  11th  day  of  June,  anno  Domini,  1896,  as  by  refer- 
ence to  the  accompanying  copy  of  the  printed  minutes  of  said  session,  pages  499, 
500,  may  more  fully  appear. 

In  behalf  of  the  general  synod,  John  Bodine  Thompson, 

President. 

Attest:  William  H.  De  Hart, 

Stated  Clerk. 

-The   "manner  and  customs  of  the  United  Provinces"   in  the  matter  of  highei* 

education  were  those  of  other  European  countries.    The  universities  (founded  on  the 

model  of  the  schools  of  ancient  Athens)  had  a  curriculum  of  the  seven  liberal  arts, 

so   called  because  instruction  in  them  was  deemed  necessary  for  freemen  (Latin, 

20687— Ko.  23 8 


114  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  college  was  located  at  New  Brunswick,  and  the  Eev.  Dr.  Jacob 
Eutseu  Hardenbergh,  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Raritan,  North  Branch, 
and  Bedniinster,  in  Somerset  County,  became  the  first  president  of  the 
institution.  The  manuscrii)t  copy  of  his  address  upon  the  graduation 
of  the  first  student  is  still  preserved  by  his  descendants.  It  is  upon 
the  "Advantages  of  education,"  which  he  defines  as  "the  improve- 
ment of  the  human  mind  for  the  proper  discharge  of  our  several  duties 
toward  God,  ourselves,  and  our  neighbors."  Under  the  definition  is 
comprehended,  he  says,  "the  more  general  parts  of  education,  as  read- 
ing, writing,  and  the  principles  of  religion,  which  ought  to  be  the 
acquisition  of  every  individual  in  the  community.  Common  arithmetic 
and  some  parts  of  mathematics  are  necessary  for  the  commercial  inter- 
course of  society.  The  necessity  and  advantage  of  this  part  of  educa- 
tion," he  adds,  "I  shall  not  now  insist  upon.  A  liberal  education,  or 
the  study  of  the  learned  languages,  liberal  arts,  and  sciences,  is  the 
particular  thing  I  have  in  view."  He  shows  that  "proper  natural  abili- 
ties are  absolutely  requisite  to  this  study,"  and  that  "if  men  of  learn- 
ing become  abandonedly  wicked  and  make  use  of  their  knowledge  to 
plan  and  perpetrate  their  villainy,  it  is  not  education  as  such  that  is 
the  cause  of  such  a  conduct."  He  insists  upon  a  liberal  education  as 
necessary  to  free  a  people,  first,  "for  forming  such  a  constitution  as  will 
be  calculated  for  etfectually  promoting  the  general  good,"  and,  secondly, 
for  "  the  execution  of"  the  plan  of  this  constitution.  He  illustrates  these 
statements  especially  "with  respect  to  the  profession  of  the  law,"  "of 
physic,"  and  "of  divinity."  On  such  grounds  he  pleads  for  endowments, 
for  students,  and  for  the  favor  of  the  public  toward  the  college.  In  con- 
clusion, he  addresses  himself  to  several  classes  of  people;  and,  first,  to 
Governor  William  Franklin  "as  the  representative  of  our  most  gracious 
sovereign,"  thanking  him  for  granting  the  charter,  which,  he  says,  was 
"a  favor  frequently  requested  before  your  arrival  to  this  colony,"  add- 
ing, "I  trust  the  name  of  Franklin  will  not  only  be  seen  in  the  charter 
pages,  but  also  gratefully  remembered  by  generations  yet  unborn."  He 
speaks  words  of  encouragement  to  the  trustees,  the  faculty,  the  student 
who  constituted  the  then  graduating  class,  the  undergraduates,  and 
the  pupils  in  the  grammar  school.  To  the  two  latter  he  says:  "I  rank 
you  together  in  my  address,  not  because  I  make  no  difference  as  to 
your  proper  departments,  but  for  brevity's  sake,  and  because  what  I 
have  to  offer  is  equally  applicable  to  you  all."  He  then  exhorts  them  to 
study,  to  piety,  and  to  propriety  of  deportment,  saying: 

Gentlemon,  I  am  persuaded  you  will  rnther  guard  your  character  and  prosecute 
your  studies  with  vigilance  and  alacrity  thau,  by  contrary  vices,  stab  your  political 
or  spiritual  self,  thrust  the  very  sword  of  grief  to  the  very  vitals  of  your  parents, 

liber,  free).  These  studies  were  grammar  (language),  dialectic  (the  art  of  reason- 
ing), rhetoric,  music,  arithmrtic,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  The  specific  object  of 
each  study  is  indicated  in  the  following  couplet,  wliich  has  come  down  from  the 
uiiddle  ages : 

"  dram  loquitur,  Dia  vera  docet,  Ehet  A-erba  colorat; 
Jiltts  canit,  Ar  uumerat,  Ce  poudorat,  Ast  colit  astra." 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  115 

friends,  and  relations,  and  be  ranked  with  that  odious  banditti  of  tlio  schools  whose 
conduct  is  calculated  to  make  society  bleed  in  every  vein,  and  rob  the  arduous  labor 
of  their  instructor  of  their  just  rewards  of  applause. 

Finally,  he  addresses  the  audiecce,  and  ejaculates: 

O,  may  America  never  want  sous  of  consummate  wisdom,  intrepid  resolution,  and 
true  piety  to  defend  her  civil  and  religious  liberties  and  promote  the  public  weal  of 
the  present  and  the  rising  generation ! 

Before  introducing  the  candidate  ''  admitted  by  the  honorable  board 
of  trustees  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,"  he  offers  "■  opportunity  for 
relaxation  of  thought  and  renewed  attention  by  the  singing  of  a  psalm." 

The  name  of  the  candidate  is  not  stated,  nor  the  date  of  delivery. 
The  address  to  the  governor  is  bracketed  at  the  side,  indicating,  per- 
haps, that  it  was  omitted  because  of  his  absence. 

Governor  Franklin  was  arrested  and  deprived  of  his  ofBce  June  17, 
1776 ;  but  this  could  not  have  been  the  cause  of  his  absence  on  this  occa- 
sion, for  Simeon  De  Witt's  diploma  bears  date  October  5,  1770,  though 
in  consequence  of  the  approach  of  the  British  army  he  did  not  formally 
receive  his  degree  until  two  years  later.'  But  the  graduating  student 
was  present  to  receive  his  degree  at  the  delivery  of  this  address.  It 
must,  therefore,  have  been  at  least  as  early  as  1775.  And  the  tone  of 
the  address,  so  like  that  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  so 
characteristic  of  the  lover  of  liberty  who,  during  the  four  or  five  next 
succeeding  years  slept  with  a  loaded  musket  at  his  side,  indicates  that 
it  could  hardly  have  been  written  much  earlier  than  1775.^ 

During  the  Eevolutionary  war  the  college  was  migratory.  Sunday, 
December  1,  177(5,  Washington  and  his  little  army  were  at  Brunswick, 
but  the  next  day  they  were  at  Princeton,  and  Brunswick  was  in  posses- 
sion of  the  British. 

According  to  the  issues  of  the  New  Jersey  Gazette,  published  at 
Trenton,  May  13,  1778,  and  January  27,  1779,  "the  busiuessof  Queen's 
College"  was  then  "carried  on  at  the  North  Branch  of  Raritan,  in  the 
county  of  Somerset."  Tradition  avers  that  the  precise  locality  was 
opposite  the  ford  of  the  North  Branch  just  above  the  Head  of  Raritan, 
in  the  house  adjacent  to  the  ruins  of  the  log  church  "over  the  North 
Branch,"  on  the  hill  whence  one  looks  across  Tucca-Ramma-Hackin'g, 
the  meeting  of  the  waters,  straight  down  the  reach  of  the  beautiful 
river.     In  the  advertisement  it  is  stated  that 

this  neighborhood  is  so  far  distant  from  headquarters  that  not  any  of  the  troops  are 
stationed  here;  neither  does  the  army  in  the  least  interfere  with  the  business  of  the 
college.  The  faculty  also  take  the  lil)erty  to  remind  the  public  that  the  representa- 
tives of  this  State  have  enacted  a  law  by  which  students  are  exempted  from  military 
duty. 

After  the  war  the  Political  Intelligencer  and  New  Jersey  Advertiser, 
printed  by  Shepherd  Kollock,  at  Queen's  College,  was  published  at 

1  Prof;  T.  S.  Doolittle,  in  Corwin's  Manual  of  1879,  p.  85 ;  and  the  Historical  Address 
of  Hon.  Joseph  P.  Bradley,  p.  40. 

2 But  see  Dr.  Johnson's  statement  to  John  Ewing  in  1773,  p.  181). 


116  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

New  Brunswick,  where  Dr.  Hardenbergh  was  then  jiastor  of  the  church, 
as  well  as  president  of  the  college.  Of  the  60  young  men  graduated 
from  the  college  before  its  doors  were  closed  in  1795  because  of  financial 
difiiculties,  10  became  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

The  college  was  opened  again  in  1807  after  the  alliance  with  the 
Synod  of  the  Eeformed  Church,  and  was  devoted  chiefly  to  the  educa- 
tion of  ministers,  until  by  the  act  of  the  legislature,  passed  April  4, 
1868,  it  was  made  "The  State  College  for  the  Benefit  of  Agriculture  and 
the  Mechanic  Arts,"  since  which  time  it  has  been  more  nearly  conformed 
to  the  design  of  its  founders. 

The  struggles  of  the  colleges  in  those  days  were  great,  but  those  of 
the  country  schools  were  greater.  The  instructions  for  the  guidance 
of  Governor  Bernard,  issued  in  1758,  directed  that — 

No  schoolmaster  be  henceforth  permitted  to  come  from  England,  and  to  keep  school 
in  said  province  without  the  license  of  said  Bishop  of  London ;  and  that  no  other 
person,  now  there  or  that  shall  come  from  other  parts,  shall  be  admitted  to  keep 
school  in  that  our  said  province  of  New  Jersey  without  your  license  first  obtained.' 

This  restriction  was  necessary,  since  the  country  was  full  of  adven- 
turers, many  of  them  of  bad  habits,  M'ho  palmed  themselves  off  as 
competent  instructors.  Among  these  were  university  graduates  of 
drinking  j)ropensities,  and  others  who  had  "left  their  country  for  their 
country's  good.''' 

Most  of  the  teachers  were  men,  but  there  were  women  among  them 
also.  Among  these  was  Elizabeth,  the  only  child  of  Dr.  Thomas  Samp- 
son of  Cheshire  in  England,  where  she  was  born  in  1713.  She  was  an 
excellent  teacher,  but  her  second  husband  (for  she  had  three)  was  a 

'  New  Jersey  Archives,  Vol.  IX,  p.  68. 

-  The  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  were  not  more  easily  imposed  upon  than  the 
inhabitants  of  the  mother  country.  In  his  autobiography  Franklin  tells  tlie  story 
of  James  Ralph,  one  of  his  "inseparable  companions ''  who,  under  Franklin's  infiu- 
ence,  abandoned  his  religious  profession,  deserted  his  wife  and  child  in  Philadel- 
phia, accompanied  Franklin  to  England,  lived  a  disreputable  life  in  London,  changed 

his  name,  went  down  into  the  country,  and  became  a  "  schoolmaster  at  N ,  a  small 

village  in  Berkshire."  Afterwards  he  seems  to  nave  repented,  reformed,  resumed 
his  own  name,  and  made  it  honorable.  Charles  James  Fox  described  him  as  "an 
historian  of  great  acuteness  and  diligence."  He  was  cured  of  his  ambition  to 
become  a  poet  when  Pope  pilloried  him  in  the  Dunciad  with — 

"  Silence,  ye  wolves,  while  Ralph  to  Cynthia  howls, 
And  makes  night  hideous;  answer  him,  ye  owls!" 

He  never  returned  to  America,  but  died  at  Cheswick  in  1762.  The  only  notice  he 
ever  took  of  his  daughter  was  to  send  her  (by  Franklin,  after  the  birth  of  her 
thirteenth  child,  whose  name  was  Benjamin  Franklin  Garrigues),  a  "piece"  of  blue 
cloth.  She  and  her  husband  meanwhile  had  become  worthy  members  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  the  cloth  was  made  into  garments,  in  Quaker  style,  for  him  and 
their  eight  sons.  The  contrast  of  the  blue  color  with  the  style  and  with  the  drab 
of  their  associates  attracted  attention  to  the  procession  of  the  family  to  the  meeting- 
house every  First  Day,  and  is  still  remembered  in  Philadelphia.  One  of  these  chil- 
dren, James  Ralph  Garrigues,  I  knew  personally  and  respected  highly. 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  117 

tboronglily  worthless  one.  She  was  a  young  widow  when  she  came  to 
this  country,  wliere  she  married  a  schoolmaster,  who  fell  in  love  with 
her  for  her  dancing.  He  kept  school  on  Long  Island,  and  was  very 
drunken  and  profane.  At  last  she  had  his  permission  to  visit  her  rela- 
tives in  Pennsylvania.     She  says: 

My  husband  accompanied  uie  to  the  Blazing  Star  Ferry,  saw  nie  safely  over,  and 
then  returned,  lii  the  Avay  I  fell  from  my  horse  and  for  several  days  was  unable  to 
travel.  I  abode  at  the  house  of  an  honest  Dutchman,  who,  with  his  wife,  paid  me 
the  utmost  attention  and  would  have  no  recompense  for  their  trouble.  I  left  them 
with  sentiments  of  deep  gratitude  for  their  extraordinary  kindness,  and  they  charged 
me  if  ever  I  came  that  way  again  to  call  and  lodge  there. 

She  reached  Philadelphia  in  safety  and  her  husband  followed  her 
thither.  They  went  to  Wilmington,  in  Delaware,  and  there  heard  that 
a  schoolmaster  and  a  schoolmistress  were  needed  at  Freehold,  in  New 
Jersey,  for  which  place  they  accordingly  set  out.^ 

In  the  account  of  her  life  she  writes: 

In  our  way  to  Freehold,  as  we  came  to  [the  Friends'  meetinghouse  at]  Stony 
Brook,  my  husband  turned  toward  me  and  tauntingly  said,  "  Here's  one  of  Satan's 
synagogues ;  don't  you  long  to  be  in  it"?  I  hope  to  see  you  cured  of  your  new  religion." 
A  little  further  on  we  came  to  a  large  run  of  water  over  which  there  was  no  bridge, 
und  being  strangers  we  knew  no  way  to  avoid  passing  through  it.  He  carried  over 
our  clothes,  which  we  had  in  bundles;  and,  taking  off  my  shoes,  I  walked  through 
in  my  stockings.  It  was  in  the  twelfth  month;  the  weather  was  very  cold,  and  a 
fall  of  snow  lay  on  the  ground. 

After  walking  nearly  a  mile  we  came  to  a  house,  which  proved  to  be  a  sort  of  tav- 
ern. My  husband  called  for  some  spirituous  liquors,  and  I  got  some  weakened  cider 
mulled,  which  rendered  me  extremely  sick;  so  that  after  we  were  a  little  past  the 
house,  being  too  faint  to  proceed,  I  fell  down.     "What's  the  matter  now,"  said  my 

'  She  says:  "  In  our  way  to  Freehold  we  visited  the  kind  Dutchman  whom  I  have 
mentioned  in  a  former  part  of  this  narrative.  He  made  us  welcome,  and  invited  us 
to  pass  a  day  or  two  with  them.  During  our  stay  we  went  to  a  large  meeting  of 
Presbyterians,  held  not  only  for  worship  but  business.  In  particular  the  trial  of  one 
of  their  priests,  who  had  been  charged  with  drunkenness,  was  to  come  on.  I  per- 
ceived such  great  divisions  among  the  people  respecting  who  should  be  their  shep- 
herd that  I  iiitied  them.  Some  insisted  on  having  the  old  offender  restored;  others 
wished  to  have  a  young  man  they  had  had  on  trial  some  weeks;  others,  agaip, 
were  for  sending  to  New  England  for  a  minister.  In  reply,  one  who  addressed  him- 
self to  the  chief  speaker  observed:  '  Sir,  when  we  have  been  at  the  expense  (which 
Avill  not  be  trifling)  of  fetching  this  gentleman  from  New  England,  perhaps  he'll  not 
stay  with  us.'  'Don't  you  know  how  to  make  him  stay?'  said  another.  'No,  sir.' 
'  I'll  tell  you  ;  give  him  a  large  salary  and  I'll  engage  he'll  stay.'  I  listened  atten- 
tively to  the  debate,  and  most  plainly  it  appeared  to  me  that  these  mercenary  crea- 
tures were  all  actuated  by  one  and  the  same  motive,  which  was  not  the  regard  for 
souls,  but  the  love  of  money."  This  was  in  1736  or  1737,  at  the  trial  of  the  Eev. 
Joseph  Morgan,  pastor  at  Hopewell.  The  "  kind  Dutchman  "  was  probably  Peter 
Lott,  who  was  one  of  the  Avitnesses  at  the  trial.  Mr.  Morgan  was  the  first  graduate 
of  Yale  College,  and  had  been  a  minister  at  Freehold  before  coming  to  Hopewell. 
He  learned  Dutch  in  order  to  preach  the  gospel  to  those  who  were  scattered  abroad, 
and  ultimately  died  while  on  an  evangelizing  tour  on  the  Jersey  coast.  (See  The 
History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton,  by  John  Hall,  D.  D.,  pp.  40-50,  71,  72; 
and  Corwin's  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  third  edition,  pp.  389,  390.) 


118  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

hnsbaud,  "  what,  iire  you  tlruuk?  Where's  your  reHgion  uow?"  He  knew  that  I 
was  not  drunk,  and  at  that  time,  I  believe,  jiitied  nie,  although  he  spoke  in  this 
manner.  After  I  was  a  little  recovered  we  went  on  and  came  to  another  tavern, 
where  we  lodged.  The  next  day  as  we  journeyed  a  young  man,  driving  an  empty 
cart,  overtook  us.  We  asked,  him  to  let  us  ride  and  he  readily  granted  the  request. 
I  had  known  the  time  when  I  would  uot  have  been  seen  in  a  cart,  but  my  proud 
heart  was  humbled  and  I  did  not  now  regard  the  look  of  it.  This  cart  belonged  to 
a  man  in  Shrewsbury  and  was  to  go  through  the  place  of  our  destination.  We  soon 
had  the  care  of  the  team  to  ourselves  through  a  failure  of  the  driver  and  arrived 
with  it  at  Freehold. 

My  husband  would  have  had  me  stay  here  while  he  went  to  see  the  team  safe  home. 
I  told  him  no ;  since  ho  had  led  me  through  the  country  like  a  vagabond  I  would  not 
stay  behind  him.  We  therefore  went  together  and  lodged  that  night  at  the  house  of 
the  owner  of  the  cart.  The  next  day  on  our  return  to  Freehold  we  met  a  man  riding 
at  full  speed  who,  stopping  said  to  my  husband,  "Sir,  are  you  a  schoolmaster?"  He 
answered,  "Yes."  "I  am  come,"  replied  the  stranger,  "to  tell  you  of  two  new 
schoolhouses,  2  miles  apart,  and  that  a  master  is  wanted  for  each."  I  turned  and 
said:  "My  dear,  look  on  me  with  pity,  if  thou  hast  any  affection  left  for  me,  which 
I  hope  thou  hast,  for  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  done  anything  to  alienate  it. 
Here  is  an  opportunity  to  settle  us  both,  and  I  am  willing  to  do  all  in  my  power 
toward  getting  an  honest  livelihood."  After  a  short  pause  he  consented  to  go  with 
the  young  man. 

Here,  according  to  my  desire,  we  settled.  My  husband  took  one  school  and  I  the 
other,  and  by  the  end  of  the  week  we  got  settled  in  our  new  situation.  We  took  a 
room  in  a  Friend's  house,  1  mile  from  each  school. 

We  lived  in  a  small  house  by  ourselves  which,  though  mean,  and  though  we  had 
little  to  put  in  it  (our  bed  being  no  better  than  chaff),  I  was  truly  content.  The 
only  desires  I  had  were  for  my  own  preservation  and  to  be  blessed  with  the  reforma- 
tion of  my  husband.  He  had  got  linked  in  with  a  set  of  men  who,  he  feared,  would 
make  game  of  him.  They  used  to  come  to  our  house  and  provoke  him  to  sit  up  and 
drink  with  them,  sometimes  till  near  day,  while  I  have  been  sorrowing  in  a  stable. 
Once  as  I  sat  in  this  condition  I  heard  him  say  to  his  companions,  "I  can't  bear  to 
afflict  my  poor  wife  in  this  manner,  for  whatever  yon  may  think  of  her,  I  do  believe 
she  is  a  good  woman."  He  then  came  to  me  and.  said,  "Come  in,  my  dear;  God  has 
given  thee  a  deal  of  patience;  I'll  put  an  end  to  this  practice;"  and  so  he  did,  for 
this  was  the  last  time  they  sat  up  at  night. 

My  husband  now  thought  that  if  he  w^aa  in  any  place  where  it  was  not  known  he 
had  been  so  bitter  against  Friends  he  could  do  better.  But  I  was  much  against  his 
moving,  fearing  it  would  tend  to  his  hurt,  he  having  been  for  some  months  past 
much  altered  for  the  better. 

But  all  I  could  say  would  not  avail.  Hearing  of  a  place  at  Bordentown  he  went 
thither,  but  was  not  suited.  He  next  removed  to  Mount  Holly,  where  we  settled. 
Wc  had  each  of  us  a  good  school,  and  soon  got  our  house  pretty  well  furnished,  for 
poor  folks,  and  might  have  done  very  w^ell.  Nothing  seemed  wanting  to  complete 
my  ha])pine8s,  except  the  reformation  of  my  husband,  which  I  had  much  reason  to 
doubt  I  should  not  see  soon. 

It  fell  out  according  to  my  fears.  He  addicted  himself  much  to  drinking,  and 
grew  worse  than  before.  Sorrow  was  again  my  lot;  but  I  prayed  for  patience  to 
bear  my  afflictions,  and.  to  submit  to  the  dispensations  of  Providence.  I  murmured 
not;  nor  do  I  recollect  that  I  ever  uttered  any  harsh  expressions,  except  on  one  occa- 
sion. My  husband  coming  home  a  little  intoxicated  (a  state  in  which  he  was  very 
fractious),  and  finding  me  at  work  by  a  candle,  he  put  it  out,  fetching  me  at  the 
same  time  a  box  on  the  ear,  and  saying,  "  You  don't  earn  your  light."  At  this 
unkind  usage,  which  I  had  not  been  used  to  for  the  last  two  years,  I  was  somewhat 
angry,  and  said,  "Thou  art  a  vile  man.''  He  struck  me  again;  but  my  anger  had 
cooled,  and  I  received  the  blow  without  so  much  as  a  word  in  return.  This,  also, 
displeased  him,  and  he  went  on  in  a  distracted-like  manuer,  uttering  such  expres- 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  119 

sions  of  despair  as  that  he  believed  lie  was  predestined  to  damnation,  and  he  did 
not  care  how  soon  God  strnck  him  dead.  I  said  very  little,  till,  at  length,  in  the 
bitterness  of  my  soul,  I  broke  out  into  these  expressions:  ''Lord,  look  down  on  my 
afflictions,  and  deliver  rae  by  some  means  or  other."  My  jjrayer  was  granted,  but  in 
such  a  manner  that  I  thought  it  would  have  killed  me.  lie  went  to  Burlington, 
where  he  got  drunk,  and  enlisted  to  go  as  a  common  soldier  to  Cuba  in  the  year  1740. 
Afterwards  he  was  taken  sick  and  sent  to  Chelsea  Hospital,  near  London,  where 
he  died,  leaving  debts  in  New  Jersey  to  the  amount  of  £80.' 

She  settled  herself  steadily  to  the  business  of  school  keeping  in 
Burlington  County,  and  gradually  paid  off  the  debts,  which  bylaw  she 
was  not  compelled  to  pay,  for  want  of  effects.- 

The  supply  of  competent  teachers  had  never  been  equal  to  the 
demand  in  New  Jersey.  Constantly  men  and  women  were  obtained 
for  the  purpose  from  other  governments.  The  following  advertise- 
ments will  be  of  interest :  ^ 

This  is  to  inform  Mr.  Ricliard  Wright,  of  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  who  lately  kept 
a  school  at  Perth  Aniboy,  that  his  brother,  Joseph  Wright,  is  arrived  in  these 
parts. — (The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  September  30  to  October  7,  173L) 

Philadelphia,  September  11,  174G. 

Notice  is  hereby  given  that  there  is  in  the  township  of  Bethlehem  and  county  of 
Hunterdon,  in  West  Jersey,  two  or  three  vacancies  for  schools,  where  £18  or  £20  a 
year  Lath  been  given,  with  accommodations.  Any  schoolmaster  well  qualitied  with 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  and  wants  employment,  may  repair  to  John  Emley, 
living  in  the  abovesaid  place,  and  undoubtedly  find  employment. — (The  Pennsylva- 
nia Gazette.) 

Notice  is  hereby  given  that  a  good  schoolmaster  is  very  much  wanted  at  the  Land- 
ing, near  New  Brunswick,  where  a  full  school  may  l)e  had  as  soon  as  a  master  will 
settle  there,  as  there  is  not  one  in  all  that  place. — (The  New  York  Gazette,  March  16, 
1747.) 

A  good  schoolmaster  for  children,  that  can  teach  reading,  writing,  and  ciiihering, 
is  wanted  at  Pari  tan,  about  6  miles  above  Bound  Brook.  Any  person  properly  quali- 
fied may  meet  with  good  encouragement  by  applying  to  John  Bronghton.^ — (The 
New  York  Gazette,  March  23,  1747.) 

'Among  the  acts  passed  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  province  of  New  Jersey, 
at  Burlington,  in  1740,  was  one  for  victualing  and  transporting  the  troops  to  be 
raised  in  this  colony  for  His  Majesty's  service  on  the  intended  expedition  to  the  West 
Indies,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against  Spain  (which  was  declared  October 
23,  1739,  and  ended  by  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  October  7,  1748).  July  18, 
1741,  Admiral  Vernon  and  General  Wentworth  made  an  attempt  upon  the  island  of 
Cnba  and  possessed  themselves  of  a  fine  harbor,  but  were  obliged  to  quit  it  on 
account  of  the  great  sickness  among  their  men. 

-In  1746  she  married  Aaron  Ashbridge.  She  was  a  devoted  preacher  among 
Friends.  In  1753  she  went  on  a  religious  visit  across  the  Atlantic,  where  she  died 
on  the  16th  of  the  5th  month,  1755,  at  the  house  of  Robert  Lecky,  in  the  county  of 
Carlow,  Ireland,  and  was  buried  at  Ballj'brurahill.  (Some  Account  of  the  life,  suf- 
ferings, and  exercises  of  Elizabeth  Ashbridge,  in  Friends'  Miscellany,  Philadelphia, 
Twelfth  month,  1833.     Vol.  V,  pp.  1-45.) 

^These  advertisements  are  from  the  New  Jersey  Archives,  A'ols.  XI,  p.  260,  and 
XII,  pp.  320,  341,  347,  514,  583,  619. 

■*  John  Broughton  was  of  the  firm  of  Janeway  &  Broughton,  the  most  extensive 
dealers  in  grain  and  general  merchandise  in  all  this  region.  Jacob  Janeway  lived 
at  Middlebrook,  near  Bound  Brook,  and  owned  the  mill  there.  Janeway  &  Brough- 
ton's  account  books,  full  of  interest  to  the  genealogist  and  historian,  are  in  the 
possession  of  Henry  L.  Janeway,  esq.,  of  New  Brunswick. 


120  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Writing,  .irithiuetic,  vulgiir  and  decimal,  merchiints'  accomi^ts,  by  the  Italian 
method  (double  entry),  sundrybrancbesof  the  mathematics,  as  navigation,  surveying, 
etc.,  and  algebra,  all  carefully  taught  in  Burlington,  near  the  court  house,  by 
Thomas  Craven.— (The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  February  7,  1748-49.) 

Any  schoolmastt^r  or  mistress  that  shall  come  vrell  recommended  to  be  of  a  sober 
behaviour,  and  can  spcil  well,  and  write  a  good  common  hand,  may  tiud  encourage- 
ment for  keei)ing  of  a  school  by  applying  to  William  Foster,  near  Mount  Holly,  in 
West  Jersey.— (The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  November  2,  1749.) 

A  single  person  is  wanted  that  is  (jualified  for  a  schoolmaster;  such  an  one  will 
meet  with  encouragement  by  applying  to  Martin  Beekman  or  Abraham  Dumout, 
near  Karitau  River,  al)out  7  miles  above  the  Landing. — (The  New  York  Gazette, 
April  9,  1750.) 

Among  the  adventurers  from  other  colonies  who  came  to  New  Jersey 
was  Hansford  Eogers,  a  Connecticut  man.  In  1788  he  tanglit  a  small 
school  just  out  of  Morristown.  Having  some  knowledge  of  chemistry, 
and  being  thoroughly  uuprincii)led,  he  took  advantage  of  the  credulity 
of  forty  people  in  the  vicinity  to  trick  them  out  of  their  money.  There 
had  long  been  a  tradition  of  a  vast  treasure  hidden  in  the  ground  at 
Schooley's  Mountain,  guarded,  according  to  the  superstition  of  those 
days,  by  the  ghosts  of  men  buried  with  it.  Again  and  again,  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  he  led  his  dupes  to  the  place  where  the  treasure 
was  sup[)Osed  to  be  buried,  when  explosions  would  take  jilace  and 
strange  noises  be  heard,  none  of  the  victims  suspecting  that  mines  had 
been  carefully  prepared  by  the  schoolmaster  that  they  might  be  exploded 
at  the  proper  moment.  White  forms  also  wore  seen  flitting  through 
the  forest,  and  when  the  conspirators  all  lay  flat  on  their  faces  with 
each  a  i)iece  of  white  pai)er  in  his  hand,  and  all  the  papers  were  shaken 
together,  a  writing  was  discovered  on  one  of  them  which  stated  that  the 
guardian  ghosts  would  be  propitious  and  allow  the  treasure  to  be  taken, 
provided  each  one  of  the  forty  would  pay  to  the  schoolmaster  £12  in 
gold  or  silver  money. 

Much  of  the  money  was  paid  before  the  schoolmaster,  playing  the 
ghost,  in  a  fit  of  intoxication,  betrayed  himself,  was  detected  and  impris- 
oned. He  prevailed  upon  one  of  his  victims  to  bail  him  out,  however, 
and  then  betook  himself  to  parts  unknown.' 

The  government  of  the  colonial  schools  was  often  brutal.  It  is  hardly 
too  much  to  say  of  some  of  the  New  Jersey  schools  what  Charles 
Francis  Adams  has  said  of  the  Massachusetts  schools  of  that  day: 

Prior  to  1800  in  point  of  fact  the  children  were  neither  taught  much  nor  were  they 
taught  well,  for  through  life  the  most  of  them  could  do  little  more  in  the  way  of 
writing  than  scrawl  their  names. 

If  by  any  chance  the  village  school  of  1790  could  be  brought  back  to  1890,  the 
parents  would  in  horror  and  astonishment  keep  their  children  at  home  until  a  town 
meeting  called  at  the  shortest  notice  could  beheld;  and  this  meeting  would  i>rob- 
ably  have  cnlminated  in  a  riot,  in  the  course  of  which  the  schoolhouse  as  well  as 
school  would  have  been  summarily  abated  as  a  disgrace  and  a  nuisance.- 

'  Barber  and  Howe's  Historical  Collections,  p.  394.  Rogers's  adventures  were 
apparently  the  basis  of  David  Thompson's  novel,  entitled  May  Martin;  or  the  Money 
Diggers. 

=  Three  Episodes  of  Massachusetts  History.  McMaster's  History  of  the  People 
of  the  United  States  says  that  "in  many  parts  of  New  England  it  must  be  owned 
the  condition  of  the  schoolmaster  lias  imi>roved  but  little  since  17841  " 


COLONIAL    SCHOOLS.  121 

This  is  very  strong  language,  but  it  is  not  entirely  undeserved.  The 
government  of  many  of  the  schools  of  the  last  century  was  execrable, 
and  the  teaching  was  often  not  much  better. 

Almost  every  schoolmaster  kept  as  a  precious  treasure  a  manuscript 
volume  of  instructions  and  examples  which  he  had  received  from  his 
teacher,  and  from  this  derived  much  of  the  learned  lore  from  the  mani- 
festation of  which — 

Still  the  wonder  grew 
How  one  small  bead  could  carry  all  be  knew. 

In  some  instances  this  was  supplemented,  and  ultimately  superseded, 
by  a  booli  i^rinted  for  the  teacher's  use  and  containing  sometimes 
instructions  upon  a  great  variety  of  topics.  In  172G  Isaac  Watts  (who 
was  a  teacher,  as  well  as  a  poet  and  theologian)  sent  forth  such  a  book 
entitled  First  Principles  of  (xeography  and  Astronomy  Explained.' 

A  book  which  shows  abundant  signs  of  use  is  "The  Instructor,  by 
George  Fisher,  accomptant.  The  fourteenth  edition  corrected  and 
improved.  Loudon,  1757.  Price  2s.  6d."  (12mo.,  pp.  384).  It  has  a 
frontispiece  as  representative  of  an  English  school,  after  which  the 
colonial  schools  of  those  days  were  as  far  as  possible  modeled.  Of 
course,  however,  the  common  schools  on  this  continent  were  entirely 
destitute  of  maps,  globes,  and  other  apparatus,  as  well  as  of  reference 
books.  This  volume  contains  instructions  in  spelling,  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic;  and  also  in  letter  writing,  bookkeeping,  legal  forms, 
mensuration,  the  making  of  sundials,  dyeing,  gardening,  pickling,  and 
preserving,  as  well  as  in  geography  and  astronomy,  etc.,  and  in  this 
order. 

A  few  extracts  from  the  instructions  for  writing  may  be  taken  as 
specimens  of  the  whole : 

First,  aud  principallj^,  there  must  be  a  fixed  desire  and  inclination  imprinted  in  the 
mind  for  its  attainment;  fori  myself  bad  never  acquired  or  arrived  to  any  profi- 
ciency in  it,  if  I  had  not  bad  a  strong  desire  and  inclination  to  it;  arising  from  being 
convinced  of  its  excellent  use  iu  trade,  and  all  manner  of  business,  according  to  the 
verse : 

Great  was  his  genius,  most  sublime  his  thought. 
That  first  fair  writing  to  perfection  brought,  etc. 

Next  to  the  desire  there  must  be  added  a  steady  resolution  to  go  through  with  it 
till  it  is  gained,  and  by  a  diligent  and  indefatigable  application,  overcoming  all 
seeming  difficulties  that  may  arise  iu  the  progress  of  its  attainment,  agreeable  to 
this  distich : 

By  frequent  use,  experience  gains  its  growth; 

But  knowledge  flies  from  laziness  and  sloth. 

*  It  enables  one  to  understand  how  a  paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  in  Loudon,  February  15,  1723,  could  have  been 
entitled  "The  humble  address  of  the  inhabitauts  of  Salem  in  West  Indies,  New 
Jersey."    Dr.  Watts  informs  us  that  "America  is  called  in  general  the  West  Indies." 

The  booic  mentioned,  and  others  similar,  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  contribute  to 
the  library  of  the  New  Jersey  State  College  at  New  Brunswick,  as  memorials  of 
colonial  days. 


122  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Theu  follows  a  statement  of  the  implements  used,  with  directions  how 
to  hold  the  pen,  to  make  a  pen,  forms  of  the  letters,  a  dozen  pages  of 
short  sententious  sayings  to  be  used  as  "copies,"  receipts  for  making 
ink,  for  keeping  it  from  freezing  and  molding,  etc. 

The  implements  are  summed  up  in  these  lines : 

A  penkuife  razor-metal,  quills  good  store; 
Gum-saiulrick  jwwcler,  to  poiiuce  paper  o'er; 
luk,  shiuiug  black;  jjaper  more  white  than  snow; 
Rouiul  aud  flat  rulers  on  yourself  bestow ; 
With  willing  mind,  these,  and  industrious  hand. 
Will  make  this  art  your  servant  at  command. 

A  receipt  for  making  "the  best  black  ink  in  the  world"  mivy  remind 
us  of  some  of  the  inconveniences  of  our  ancestors,  from  which  we  are 
happily  free : 

To  6  fxuarts  of  rain  or  river  water  (but  rain  water  is  the  best)  put  Ik  pounds  of 
fresh  blue  galls  of  Aiejipo  (for  those  of  Smyrna  are  not  strong  enough),  bruised 
pretty  small;  8  ounces  of  copperas,  clean,  rocky,  and  green;  also  8  ounces  of  clean, 
bright,  and  clear  gum  arabic,  and  2  ounces  of  roche  (sic)  allom.  Let  these  stand 
together  in  a  large  stone  bottle,  or  clean  stone  pot,  or  earthen  pot,  with  a  narrow 
mouth  to  keep  it  free  from  dust;  shake,  roll,  or  stir  it  well  once  every  day,  and  you 
will  have  excellent  ink  in  about  a  month's  time,  and  the  older  it  grows  the  better  it 
will  be  for  use. 

If  yon  soak  the  green  peeling  of  walnuts  (at  the  time  of  the  year  when  pretty 
ripe)  and  oak  sawdust,  or  small  chips  of  oak,  in  rain  water,  and  stir  it  pretty  often 
for  a  fortnight,  the  water  strained  off  and  used  with  the  same  ingredients  as  above, 
will  render  the  ink  still  stronger  and  better. 

Under  the  head  of  geography  we  are  informed  that — 

The  English  possess  a  large  track  (sic)  of  the  seacoast  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  which — 
make  allowance  for  the  windings  of  the  coast — may  be  very  well  supposed  to  be 
more  than  1,500  miles.  The  name  of  their  plantations  or  settlements,  with  their 
chief  towns,  follow: 

Chief  towns. 

Nova  Scotia Halifax. 

New  England Boston. 

New  York New  York. 

Pensilvania Philadelphia. 

New  Jersey,  East Elizabeth  Town. 

New  Jersey,  West , Elsingburgh. 

Maryland Baltimore. 

"Virginia James  Town. 

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina Charles  Town. 

Georgia Savannah. 

A  much  more  scientific  work,  which  also  has  been  greatly  used,  is 
A  New  Geographical  and  Ilistorical  Grammar,  by  Mr.  Salmon,  the  tenth 
edition,  Loudon,  17GC  (8vo.,  pp.  610).  It  is  an  excellent  treatise  on 
historical  geography,  and  must  have  been  of  great  value  to  teachers.' 

'  Thomas  Salmon  wrote  also  a  chronological  history  of  England,  and  an  examination 
of  Bishop  Burnet's  History.  He  was  one  of  the  authors  of  the  Universal  History. 
He  died  in  1743. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  '  123 

There  could  have  been  little  demaud  for  the  teaching  of  geography 
in  the  schools  of  those  days;  but  this  was  a  work  of  reference  for  the 
schoolmaster.  For  this  purpose  it  lay  upon  the  desk  of  one  of  the  teach- 
ers of  my  childhood  nearly  a  hundred  years  after  it  was  printed.  At 
that  time  it  served  also  to  hold  the  "  copy  plates,"  as  they  were  "called, 
furnished  by  the  teacher  to  those  who  were  learning  to  write,  instead 
of  "  setting  the  copy"  with  his  own  hand. 

The  "copy  plates"  had  been  cut  singly  from  The  Writing  Master's 
Assistant,  containing  four  sets  of  apothegms  in  script  arranged  alpha- 
betically under  the  heads  large  text,  round  text,  round  hand,  and  run- 
ning hand.  They  had  been  "  written  by  William  Thomson,  professor 
of  writing  and  accompts,  and  accurately  engraved  on  twenty-two  cop- 
per plates  by  H.  Ashby,  London."  The  book  is  in  quarto,  with  paper 
cover,  and  originally  contained  48  pages,  but  all  of  the  "round  hand" 
pages  have  been  extracted,  as  well  as  parts  or  the  whole  of  many 
others,  so  that  I  am  not  able  to  discover  how  round  text  differed  from 
round  hand. 

A  much  more  important  book  was  The  Schoolmaster's  Assistant; 
Being  a  Compendium  of  Arithmetic,  both  Practical  and  Theoretical, 
by  Thomas  Dilworth.  This  was  a  great  favorite  in  New  Jersey,  as  in 
other  of  the  United  States,  and  in  Great  Britain.  It  was  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  pupils  and  saved  the  teachers  much  labor.  The  twelfth 
edition  was  reprinted  in  Philadelphia  in  1790.  "The  preface,  dedica- 
tory to  the  reverend  and  worthy  schoolmasters  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,"  states  and  answers  two  objections  to  the  use  of  such  an 
"assistant,"  viz,  "that  some  boys  lazily  inclined,  when  they  see 
another  at  work  upon  the  same  question,  will  be  apt  to  make  his  opera- 
tion i)ass  for  their  own,"  and  "that  to  teach  by  a  printed  book  is  an 
argument  of  ignorance  and  incapacity."  It  contains  an  admirable 
essay  "  On  the  education  of  youth,  humbly  offered  to  the  consideration 
of  parents,"  making  nine  important  suggestions  for  cooperation  with 
the  teacher,  and  closing  with  a  plea  that  girls  also  may  be  taught  to 
write  well.  The  work  is  recommended  for  use  in  schools  by  50  English 
schoolmasters  and  by  jSTathaniel  Wurteen,  schoolmaster  at  Philadelphia. 

This  book  continued  in  common  use  in  New  Jersey  until  about  1830, 
though  it  contained  no  account  of  the  decimal  currency  of  the  United 
States.  Probably  this  is  one  reason  why  accounts  were  kept  in  pounds, 
shillings,  and  pence  almost  to  the  middle  of  the  century  and  why  the 
words  "shilling"  and  "penny"  are  still  current. 

II.   TYPICAL   SCHOOLS. 

In  the  last  century  it  was  a  common  practice  to  provide  for  churches 
and  colleges  by  means  of  lotteries.  July  2,  1753,  in  imitation  of  this 
example,  a  lottery  was  drawn  at  Trenton  for  the  establishment  of  a 
school  in  that  place.     It  was  advertised  as  follows: 

We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  sons  of  some  of  the  principal  families 
in  and  about  Trenton,  being  in  some  measure  sensible  of  the  advantages  of  learning, 
and  desirous  that  those  who  are  deprived  of  it  through  the  poverty  of  their  parents 


124  HISTORY    OP    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

might  taste  the  swcetuess  of  it  -with  ourselves,  can  think  of  uo  better  or  other 
method  for  that  purpose  than  the  following  scheme  of  a  Delaware  Island  lottery  for 
raising  225  ])iece8  of  eight  [Spanish  dollars]  toward  building  a  house  to  accommo- 
date an  English  and  grammar  school  and  paying  a  master  to  teach  such  children 
whose  parents  are  unable  to  pay  for  schooling.  It  is  proposed  that  the  house  be  30 
feet  long,  20  feet  wide,  and  one  story  high,  and  built  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
meetinghouse  yard  in  Trenton,  under  the  direction  of  Messrs.  Benjamin  Yard,  Alex- 
ander Chambers,  and  John  Chambers,  all  of  Trenton  aforesaid.  The  managers  are 
Reynald  Hooper,  son  of  Robert  Lettis  Hooper,  esq.;  Joseph  Warrell,  jr.,  son  of 
Joseph  Warrell,  esq.;  Joseph  Reed,  jr.,  son  of  Andrew  Reed,  esq. ;  Theophilus  Sev- 
erns,  jr.,  son  of  Theophilus  Severus,  esq.;  John  Allen,  jr.,  son  of  John  Allen,  esq.; 
William  Paxton,  sou  of  Joseph  Paston,  esq.,  deceased;  and  John  Cleayton,  son  of 
William  Cleayton,  esq. 

The  drawing  was  to  take  place 

on  Fish  Island  in  the  river  Delaware,  opposite  to  the  town  of  Trenton,  and  the 
money  raised  by  this  lottery  shall  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  iloore  Furman,  of  Tren- 
ton, who  is  under  bond  for  the  faithful  laying  out  the  money  for  the  uses  above. 
And  we,  the  managers,  assure  the  adventurers,  upon  our  honor,  that  this  scheme  in  all 
its  parts  shall  be  as  punctually  observed  as  if  we  were  under  the  formalities  used  in 
lotteries;  and  we  il after  ourselves  the  public,  considering  our  laudable  design,  our 
age,  and  our  innocence,  will  give  credit  to  this,  our  public  declaration. 

This  "lottery  of  the  innocents"  must  have  been  i)lanned  by  older 
beads  than  theirs.  The  treasurer  was  the  well-known  postmaster  of 
the  town.  In  this  same  month  of  July  the  Eev.  Aaron  Burr,  j^resident 
of  the  college  at  Princeton,  wrote  to  the  Rev.  David  Cowell,  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton: 

I  will  do  my  best  in  providing  you  a  schoolmaster,  but  have  some  fears  whether  I 
can  quite  suit  you  or  me.  One  of  the  best  I  must  keep  for  my  own  use;  one  or  two 
more  that  I  could  recommend  are  otherwise  engaged.  I  have  three  in  my  mind  and 
am  a  little  at  a  loss  which  to  send. 

The  compensation  offered  for  a  teacher  at  that  time  was  £25  a  year 
and  boarding. 

In  1765  "directors  of  the  schoolhouse"  Avere  elected  by  the  congre- 
gation of  the  Presbj^terian  Church;  and  in  1800  the  "certain  brick 
building,  which  was  erected  on  the  lot  belonging  to  the  trustees  of  the 
said  church  for  the  purpose  of  a  schoolhouse,  was  leased  for  ninetj^- 
nine  years  at  the  rate  of  $1  a  year  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Trenton 
Academy.' 

After  the  Eevolutionary  war,  February  10,  1781,  twenty  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Trenton  and  its  vicinity  associated  themselves  together  "  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  a  schoolhouse  in  the  said  town  and  keeping  up 
a  regular  school  for  the  education  of  youth,  to  be  conducted  under  the 
firm  of  the  Trenton  School  Company." 

The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  to  consist  of  £270,  to  be 
divided  into  30  shares  of  the  value  of  £7  10s.,  lawful  money,  each, 
which  was  subject  to  assessment  for  whatever  might  be  further  deemed 
necessary,  by  the  company,  to  finish  the  school  building,  (which  seems 


'Hall's  History  of  the  Picsbyterian  Church  in  Trenton,  iip.  119-121. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  125 

to  have  been  already  begun).  The  possession  of  a  proprietary  share 
gave  the  right  to  send  a  child  to  school  without  any  charge  for  use  of 
the  building.  Out  scholars,  or  those  not  sent  on  shares,  were  assessed 
50  cents  each  quarter,  besides  tuition,  by  way  of  rent  money.  To  all 
the  scholars  extra  charges  were  made  for  incidentals,  such  as  for  wood 
money,  at  the  rate  of  75  cents  per  (piarter.  Five  trustees  were  elected 
by  ballot.  February  11,  1782,  James  Burnside  was  appointed  teacher, 
and  in  March  the  appointed  visitors  reported  to  the  trustees  that  they 
found  the  teacher  "to  be  attentive  to  his  duty,  the  school  in  decent 
order,  and  an  uncommon  degree  of  emulation  for  improvement  seems 
to  prevail  among  the  scholars;  that  good  attention  is  paid  to  spelling, 
reading,  and  writing,"  and  the  names  are  given  of  fourteen  pui)ils  who 
"are  learning  arithmetic." 

In  the  first  quarter  there  were  40  pupils.  In  August  public  speaking 
was  introduced,  and  a  little  more  than  £200  was  added  to  the  funds,  by 
voluntary  contributions  from  the  stockholders  and  others,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  more  firmly  establishing  the  school  and  improving  the  grade  of 
Its  studies.  In  March,  1783,  it  was  decided  to  add  to  the  list  of  pro- 
prietors, whose  tshares  at  that  time  had  been  assessed  to  the  amount  of 
£12  16s.  8d.,  a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  at  that  rate  to  double 
the  size  of  the  building.  Thirteen  additional  shares  were  subscribed, 
and  the  new  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  £447. 

About  this  time  considerable  donations  were  received  from  Kobert 
Lettis  Hooper,  John  Cox,  William  C.  Houston,  George  Davis,  and  (from 
David  Cowell,  M.  D.)  a  legacy  of  £100.  The  original  proprietors  were 
Joseph  Higbee,  David  Brearley,  James  Milnor,  jr.,  Kensalaer  Williams, 
Joseph  Paxton,  Stacy  Potts,  Isaac  Smith,  Isaac  Collins,  William  Tucker, 
James  Ewiug,  Konrad  Kotts,  Stephen  Lowrey,  Abram  Hunt,  Moore 
Furmau,  Robert  Xeil,  Micajah  How,  Jacob  Benjamin,  William  Churchill 
Houston,  John  Neilson,  and  Francis  Witt. 

The  teachers  up  to  this  date  were  James  Burnside,  George  Merchant, 
Mr.  Mahan,  Peter  Van  Gelder,  and  James  Davis. 

November  10, 1785,  an  act  of  the  legislature  incorporated  the  original 
proprietors  and  trustees  under  the  title  of  "The  proprietors  of  the 
Trenton  Academy." 

The  charter  recites  the  original  articles  of  agreement  and  states  as 
reasons  for  incorporation  that  a  lot  had  been  i^urchased  and  a  building 
erected  "in  which  the  learned  languages,  the  English  and  French  gram- 
matically, and  other  useful  branches  of  literature  are  taught  with  great 
success."  The  company,  however,  continued  to  operate  under  the 
original  articles  of  association  as  well  as  under  the  xjrovisions  of  this 
charter.     It  was  not  until  1847  that  a  set  of  by-laws  was  adopted. 

March  14, 1780,  it  was  ordered  that  the  tuition  money  in  the  English 
school  be  reduced  to  15  shillings,  that  the  entrance  money  to  the 
English  school  be  50  cents,  and  in  the  Latin  school  $2. 

In  1787  John  Mease  was  teacher  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
and  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  girls  be  admitted  half  days  in  the 


12'6  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEW   JERSEY. 

academy,  and  that  Mrs.  Mease  be  allowed  the  nnfurnisbed  room  in 
the  academy  for  her  school. 

In  June,  1787,  the  Kev.  James  F.  Armstrong,  then  and  for  thirty 
years  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  was  engaged  to  super- 
intend the  academy  "by  attending  the  several  schools  occasionally, 
disposing  the  scholars  into  classes,  directing  the  number  of  classes, 
the  particular  studies  of  each  class,  attending  to  government  and  order, 
observing  how  the  several  teachers  conduct  themselves,  directing  the 
pronunciation  and  manner  of  teaching,  and  presiding  over  public 
examinations;"  he  to  provide  a  proper  teacher  for  the  grammar  school, 
to  be  approved  by  the  trustees,  for  which  the  trustees  agreed  to  pay 
him  the  sum  of  £150  per  annum. 

In  1788  the  trustees,  finding  the  management  of  the  schools,  although 
highly  satisfactory,  too  expensive  for  the  funds,  resumed  their  personal 
superintendence,  reducing  the  duties  and  the  salary  of  Mr.  Armstrong. 
The  school  was  now  rapidly  advancing  in  the  character  and  grade  of 
its  studies,  and  on  September  15,  1789,  it  was  decided  to  give  a  certifi- 
cate under  the  seal  of  the  corporation — 

to  such  scholars  as  shall  have  studied  the  English  language  grammatically,  and 
shall  have  gained  a  comiieteut  knowledge  of  at  least  two  of  the  following  branches, 
viz:  Extraction  of  the  roots,  algebra,  mathematics,  geography,  chronology,  history, 
logic,  rhetoric,  moral  and  natural  philosophj',  spirit  of  laws  and  criticism;  andtbose 
having  read  what  is  usually  read  in  schools  of  Ciesar's  Commentaries  or  Ovid's 
ISIetamorphoses,  Justin  or  Sallust  in  Latin,  and  any  two  of  tbe  four  following 
books:  The  New  Testament,  Luciau's  Dialogues,  Xenophon,  or  Homer  in  tbe  Greek, 
shall  be  entitled  to  have  the  same  inserted  therein. 

Unruly  boys  were  expelled  from  the  academy. 

In  1792  the  price  of  tuition  was  fixed  at  |3  the  quarter  for  the  English 
school  and  English  grammar;  and  those  who  were  taught  any  of  the 
practical  branches  of  mathematics  were  to  pay  for  them  in  addition,  as 
follows:  For  navigation,  $8;  for  surveying,  $4;  for  gauging,  $2.  A 
lottery,  authorized  by  the  legislature  in  1794,  realized,  in  1802,  a  profit 
of  $1,203.36.  In  1800  the  brick  schoolhouse,  which  stood  on  the  Pres- 
byterian church  grounds,  was  leased  and  the  girls'  school  removed  to 
that  building. 

In  1807  the  trustees  prohibited  the  "scholars  from  shooting  guns 
within  the  limits  of  the  populous  parts  of  the  city."  December  1, 1817, 
the  trustees  recommended  all  the  teachers  "  to  make  use  of  Lindley 
Murray's  system  of  teaching  the  English  language." 

November  5,  1822,  it  was  resolved  that  the  school  in  the  academy  be 
closed  on  the  1st  of  April  next,  subject  to  be  opened  at  the  discretion 
of  the  trustees,  and  that  the  academy  building  be  let  out  to  some  suit- 
able person,  if  the  trustees  deemed  it  expedient.  This  action  was  prob 
ably  taken  to  make  the  academy  less  of  a  public  institution,  and  giving 
the  school  into  private  hands,  accountable  to  the  trustees. 

In  1840  the  academy  building  was  again  altered,  much  for  the  better, 
at  an  expense  of  $3,091.30. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  127 

In  April,  1847,  Charles  S.  Stone  became  principal.  He  occasionally 
deliv^ered  scientific  lectures  to  the  scholars,  who  numbered,  iu  1850,  75, 

September  1,  1851,  David  Cole  was  chosen  principal,  and  under  his 
excellent  care  the  school  grew  to  larger  proportions  t!ian  ever  before. 
There  were  143  pupils,  and  the  assembly  room  was  built  in  the  rear  for 
their  accommodation.  In  1854  John  B.  Thompson  (who,  since  his  gradu- 
ation from  Rutgers  College,  in  1851,  had  been  teaching  classical  and 
public  schools  at  Somerville  and  Flemington)  was  appointed  assistant 
teacher.  Soon  after,  his  friends,  Converse  R.  Daggett  and  Elbridge  W. 
Merritt,  were  also  engaged. '  William  H.  Brace  and  Frederick  R. 
Brace  were  added.^  George  Gerard  was  teacher  of  French,  and  Ferdi- 
nand I.  Ilsley  of  vocal  music.  Samuel  Backus  was  vice-principal,  as 
he  had  been  since  1847.  Members  of  this  faculty  alternated  in  con- 
ducting the  devotional  services  at  the  opening  of  the  school  each 
morning,  with  brief  addresses  on  moral  or  religious  toj)ics. 

Mr.  Cole  resigned  in  1857,  and  Samuel  Backus  was  made  principal,  a 
position  he  held  until  his  greatly  lamented  death  a  year  later.  The 
school  suffered  because  of  the  rivalry  of  the  State  Model  School  and 
because  of  the  distractions  of  the  civil  war.  After  the  war  it  reviv^ed 
again,  however,  and  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  its  organization  was 
celebrated  with  a  historical  address  (to  which  I  am  largely  indebted 
for  the  foregoing  statements)  by  William  L.  Dayton,  Jr.,  who  had  been 
a  pupil  when  the  writer  was  a  teacher  in  the  institution.  At  this  time 
the  school  contained  but  19  pu])ils,  and  not  long  after  its  doors  were 
closed.  Its  work  was  done.  The  property  was  sold,  and  more  than 
$50,000  were  divided  among  the  stockholders. 

In  Septenaber,  1883,  the  building  was  rented  and  it  was  used  for  sev- 
eral years  as  an  annex  to  the  public  school,  which  had  been  established 
on  the  adjacent  lot  (where  the  whipping  post  of  the  city  had  stood 
until  the  year  1839). 

In  1792  the  city  of  Paterson  was  founded  by  the  Society  for  Estab- 
lishing Useful  Manufactures.  Parents  and  children  were  emjiloyed  in 
the  factories.  The  superintendent  was  Mr.  Peter  Colt.  His  daughter, 
Miss  Sarah  Colt,  gathered  some  of  the  children  together  in  the  basement 
of  her  father's  residence  on  Sundays  and  gave  them  needed  instruction. 
April  15, 1794,  at  his  suggestion,  he  was  "authorized  to  employ  a  school- 
master to  teach  the  children  of  the  factory  on  Sundays,"  the  compensa- 
tion not  to  exceed  "10  shillings  per  week."    January  25, 1796,  Mr.  Colt 

'Mr.  Daggett  became  afterwards  a  Baptist  minister  in  Maine;  and  Mr.  Merritt 
died,  June  22,  1897,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Salem,  Conn. 

-William  H.  Brace  continues  his  connection  with  education  iu  Trenton  to  this 
day.  He  was  the  tirist  superintendent  of  schools  in  Mercer  county,  and  has  been 
principal  of  the  Trenton  City  High  School  from  its  organization  in  1874. 

Frederick  E.  Brace  taught  at  Millstone  before  he  became  a  Presbyterian  pastor  in 
1861.  Since  that  he  has  served  for  twenty  or  thirty  years  as  superintendent  of  the 
schools  of  Camden  county.  He  is  still  president  of  the  board  of  education  of  the 
town  in  which  he  resides. 


128  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

laid  before  the  board  a  letter  from  Jobn  Wright,  the  schoolmaster,  in 
consequence  of  which  he  was  instructed  not  to  charge  any  rent  for  the 
building-  used  for  this  school.' 

The  adjacent  village  of  Wesel  had  been  settled  long  before.  About 
1798  William  Jenner  (who  had  been  a  sailor)  was  a  teacher  there  (as 
he  was  also  from  1813  to  1815,  in  which  year  he  mysteriously  dis 
appeared).  About  1802  Joseph  Henderson  succeeded  Jenner.  He  was 
described  by  some  of  his  pupils  as  "a  full-blooded  Englishman"  and 
"an  old  tyrant."  About  1800-1807  Bernard  Sheridan,  an  intelligent 
Irishman  with  a  marked  brogue,  succeeded,  and  kept  the  school  up  to 
a  very  high  standard. - 

About  1820  Thomas  Gould  was  the  schoolmaster,  and  after  him  came 
Jacob  Goetschius,  who  "used  to  take  the  hide  off,"  bat  was  "a  remark- 
ably thorough  instructor." 

Bryant  Sheys  was  an  Irishman  who  retained  a  rich  brogue.  He  was 
a  man  of  fine  parts,  an  excellent  scholar,  frank  and  generous,  and  his 
only  fault  was  an  overfondness  for  a  "social  glass."  He  taught  until 
1828. 

One  Carpenter  succeeded  Sheys.  His  successor  dismissed  the  school 
one  Saturday  night,  promising  the  pupils  a  sound  flogging  on  the  fol- 
lowing Monday  morning,  for  some  real  or  fancied  misbehavior.  But 
alas  for  human  frailty!  That  very  night  he  got  drunk,  fell  to  fighting, 
and  received  two  such  black  eyes  and  such  a  general  battering  that  he 
was  ashamed  to  be  seen  by  his  pupils,  and  left  the  country  for  parts 
unknown.' 

As  a  natural  consequence  of  the  drinking  habits  of  the  day,  instances 

'  Sunday  schools  originally  devoted  most  of  their  attention  to  teaching  children 
to  read.  So  late  as  1822  the  Paterson  Union  Sabbath  School  Society  declared  that 
society's  ol)jei:t  to  be  "the  instruction  of  children  and  youth  in  the  rudiments  of  the 
English  language,  religion,  and  morality."  The  volunteer  teachers  in  these  schools 
were  not  always  themselves  very  well  educated.  So  late  as  1860,  in  a  school  in 
Hunterdon  County,  a  pious  man  was  endeavoring  to  teach  a  dull  boy  to  pronounce 
words  of  two  syllables  from  Webster's  Elementary  Spelling  Book.  When  the  pupil 
halted,  the  teacher  said, ''Go  on."  ''I  can't,"  was  the  reply.  "Whynot?"  "Don't 
know  what  that  word  is."     "Spell  it."     "  J-a-c-k-a-1-s."     "Well,  pronounce  it.''    "I 

can't."     "Spell  it  again  and  pronounce  your  syllables."     "J-a-c-k "     "Jack," 

said  the  teacher  (juickly.  "Jack,"'  the  boy  duly  responded,  and  went  on,  "a-l-s," 
looking  up  to  his  teacher  for  the  pronunciation  of  the  syllable  and  the  word.  After 
an  instant's  hesitation  it  came,  "a-las,  Jack-a-las,"  which  the  boy  reverently 
repeated,  and  went  on  to  the  next  word. 

-Sheridan's  tombstone  informs  us  that: 

"Here  lies  an  honest  man  at  rest, 
As  ever  God  in  his  image  blest. 
A  friend  of  man,  a  friend  of  truth, 

A  friend  of  age,  a  guide  of  youth. 
If  there's  another  world,  he  lives  in  bliss; 
If  there's  none,  he  made  the  best  of  this.  ' 
^This  information  respecting  schools  at  Paterson  is  derived  from  the  historical 
sketch  of  the  Hon.  William  Nelson,  prepared  for  the  Centennial  Exposition  of  1876. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  129 

of  intoxication  by  sclioolmasters  continued  to  occur  almost  to  tlie  middle 
of  the  present  century.  Two  at  least  of  those  whose  schools  I  attended 
in  my  youth  were  victims  of  alcoholic  drinks. 

All  of  the  schools  of  that  day  of  which  I  had  knowledge  were  pay 
schools. 

In  1833,  however,  there  was  a  free  school  in  the  city  of  Trenton,  pre- 
sided ov^er  by  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Macpherson,  the  father  of  the  speaker  of 
the  house  of  assembly  in  189(5.  It  was  not  a  municipal  school.  Never- 
theless, during  Mr.  Maci)herson's  successful  administration  it  was 
removed  (in  1838)  from  the  Masonic  Hall  on  Front  street  to  the  old 
jail  adjoining  the  Trenton  Academy,  the  school  being  in  the  upper  por- 
tion and  the  jail  in  the  basement.  Accordingto  contract  this  building 
was  to  be  the  property  of  the  city  only  so  long  as  it  was  used  as  a  jail. 
Through  Mr.  Macpherson's  influence,  however,  a  title  in  fee  simple  was 
obtained  by  the  payment  of  $100  to  the  estate  of  William  E.  Hunt. 

In  1844  the  legislature  granted  to  the  township  of  Nottingham  the 
privilege  of  establishing  a  free  public  school,  in  the  modern  sense  of 
the  term.  This  township  is  now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Trenton.  The 
act  allowed  the  people  to  raise  $600  for  the  support  of  the  school  and 
$500  for  the  building. 

At  the  annual  town  meeting  in  that  year  the  school  committee  recommended  to 
raise  by  tax  the  full  sum  allowed  by  the  special  township  act,  and  to  apiiropriate 
the  interest  on  the  surplus  fund  of  the  general  government  and  the  tax  on  dogs  to 
the  support  of  public  schools,  which  recommendations  were  carried  by  a  large  vote; 
besides  which  the  committee  had  husbanded  the  two  years'  appropriation  from  the 
State  fund,  amounting  to  about  $300. 

This  was  the  first  free  public  school  in  New  Jersey  since  the  end  of 
the  Dutch  dominion  in  1674.^ 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1844,  the  following  teachers  were  emjjloyed 
to  take  charge  of  the  school:  Joseph  Eouey,  principal,  and  the  Misses 
Susan  S.  Allerton,  Hannah  Carlin,  and  Sarah  Joycelin  as  assistants. 
The  first  received  an  annual  salary  of  $400  and  the  others  $150  each. 
The  applicants  on  the  first  day  were  over  400,  and  the  difficulty  of 
crowding  was  alleviated  by  excluding  all  under  7  years  of  age.  This 
was  before  I  made  Principal  Roney's  acquaintance;  but  he  must  have 
been  then,  also  an  excellent  teacher.  Salaries  were  smaller  than  they 
are  now. 

Soon  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  a  schoolhouse  was  built  near  the 
Head  of  Raritan,  where  Queen's  College  had  been  located  during  the 
struggle  for  American  Independence.  It  would  have  been  useless  to 
demand  from  the  farmers  of  that  region  a  money  payment  for  the  privi- 
lege of  this  schoolhouse,  and  the  proprietors  therefore  granted  privi- 
leges equal  to  their  own  to  any  who  expressed  desire  for  them  by 

' See   the  manusciipt   history  of  the  public  schools  of  the  city   of  Trenton,  by 
Edward  S.  Ellis,  prepared  for  the  Ceutennial  Exposition  of  1776,  and  now  in  the 
Teachers'  Consulting  Library  of  the  city. 
20687— No.  23 9 


130  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

contributions  of  even  small  quantities  of  grain,  as  appears  from  the 
subscription  paper  still  preserved,  whicli  reads  as  follows: 

At  a  meeting  of  the  in'oprietors  of  the  schoolhouse  held  yesterday,  the  expense  of 
erecting  and  furnishing  the  said  .schoolhouse  "was  calculated,  when  it  was  found  to 
amount  to  about  £30.  But  the  proprietors  being  generously  disposed  to  lual^e  no 
account  of  the  timber  or  a  great  part  of  their  labour,  if  they  can  only  colh^ct  as  much 
money  from  those  which  has  not  assisted  at  the  building  as  will  defray  the  expenses 
of  boards,  nails,  the  making  of  shingles,  etc.,  have  agreed  to  the  following  sums  to 
be  paid  in  wheat  or  money  within  two  months  after  date,  which,  if  complied  with 
on  the  part  of  subscribers,  it  shall  iutitle  them  to  a  right  in  the  schoolhouse  in  aa 
full  and  ample  a  manner  as  if  they  had  assisted  at  the  building  of  it: 

Jacob  Ten  Eyck,  ^  bushel  of  weat. 

Joseph  Stull,  i  bushel  of  ri.  North  Branch,  October  30,  1782.^ 

There  was  a  classical  scbool  at  Millstone,  where  Queen's  College  was 
conducted  in  1780,  when  the  British  again  occupied  New  Brunswick. 
From  1787  to  1812  the  Rev.  John  M.  Van  Harlingen  taught  the  classics 
there.  After  that  the  Rev.  John  Zabriskie  taught  also  in  connection 
with  his  pastorate.  Then  the  Rev.  John  Cornell  took  up  the  work  of 
the  scbool,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  Mr.  Addis,  and  he  by  Joseph  P. 
Bradley,  who  afterwards  became  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  The  same  qualities  that  made  him  suc- 
cessful as  a  teacher  made  him  successful  also  as  a  lawyer  and  a  judge.^ 

William  I.  Thompson  was  Mr.  Bradley's  successor  in  the  classical 
school  at  Millstone.     He  was  specially  fond  of  Latin  and  Greek  studies. 


'  James  P.  Snell's  History  of  Hunterdon  aud  Somerset  counties,  p.  166. 

-  They  are  well  indicated  in  the  following  extracts  from  his  letters  to  his  friend 
aud  college  mate,  William  I.  Thompson:  February  22,  1837,  he  wrote,  "I  feel  an 
interest  in  that  school.  I  hope  that  it  may  prosper;  and  the  wish  that  it  might  made 
me  earnest  that  you  should  take  it,  as  you  are  a  Jerseyman  and  have  all  the  preju- 
dices of  the  people  in  your  favor,  have  experience,  and  the  good  word  of  Somer- 
ville.  Just  give  me  an  idea  of  your  number,  talents,  progress,  the  prospect  of  the 
school,  etc." 

January  8,  1839,  he  wrote,  "What  a  world  of  things  there  are  to  learn!  Oh,  if 
■we  eould  only  devote  ourselves  to  study  constantly;  if  we  required  no  sleep,  no 
rest,  no  food;  if  our  capacities  were  enlarged  aud  our  apprehensions  (juickened  to 
the  greatest  possible  extent,  still  we  could  hardly,  in  our  short  life,  learn  what  is 
to  be  learned.  What  a  vast  field  theology  presents  to  the  mind,  particularly  !  Aud, 
then,  law,  in  its  broad  sense,  including  legislation  and  diplomacy!  And,  then, 
medicine,  in  its  broad  sense!  And  then  natural  philosophy,  and  natural  history, 
and  the  sciences  of  mathematics,  astronomy,  gt;ology,  etc.  What  a  mind  God  has 
given  to  man  to  bo  able  to  comprehend  this  almost  infinite  multiplicity  of  learning 
and  knowledge !  He  hath  set  the  World  m  man's  heart.  God,  I  believe,  gave  man 
the  means  to  operate  upon  the  subjects  of  knowledge,  at  the  same  time  that  He 
endowed  him  with  mind.  By  the  means,  I  mean  language  and  letters.  But  the 
vast  structureof  science— the  foundations  of  which  are  venerable  for  their  antiquity 
while  the  building  is  still  going  on— these  uoble  structures,  are  all  the  works  of  the 
human  mind,  piled  together  by  the  simultaneous  and  successive  labors  of  thousands 
aud  thousands  of  the  races,  amongst  whom  we  hold  our  humble  station.  Give  God 
all  the  glory.  I  don't  wonder  that  those  who  devote  their  lives  to  learning  acquire 
such  an  enthusiasm  in  the  pursuits  and  walks  thereof.  And  yet  this  work  does  not 
constitute  the  great  end  of  our  being.  The  cultivation  of  piety  in  ourselves  aud 
the  being  useful  to  others,  this  is  our  great  end." 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  131 

His  neat  pocket-copy  of  Aiiacreon  is  still  in  my  possession,  fle  liad 
no  snperior  in  preparing  boys  for  college  by  drilling  upon  the  rudi- 
ments of  these  languages.  He  himself  had  been  thus  taught  by  Scotch 
and  English  teachers,  and  he  adopted  their  methods  of  teaching  and 
government.  He  was,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  last  one  of  these  "old- 
time"  teachers  in  New  Jersey,  With  a  pleasant  <lisposition,  neverthe- 
less, by  harshness  of  voice  and  manner  he  acquired  a  reputation  for 
severity,  and  regarded  this  as  of  great  advantage  to  him  in  his  work. 
Boys  were  afraid  of  him.  He  was  lame  from  infantile  paralysis,  and 
was  also  unable  to  lift  his  right  arm  save  by  seizing  it  at  the  wrist 
with  his  left  hand.  Conseijuently,  though  he  used  the  rod  freely,  the 
rod  was  a  small  one,  and  he  could  use  it  only  by  twitching  it  between 
the  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  the  offender  lying  in  his  lap,  wriggling. 
His  verbal  castigations,  however,  were  something  wonderful,  and  are 
still  recounted  with  amusement  by  his  pupils,  along  with  their  expres- 
sions of  gratitude  for  the  drill  which  taught  them  how  to  learn. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  a  teacher  in  common  schools  before  he  went  to 
college.  After  graduation  and  teaching  classical  schools  at  Somerville 
and  JNIillstone,  he  was  a  tutor  in  Rutgers  College  for  three  years,  at  the 
same  time  studying  divinity.  Three  years  he  served  as  pastor;  but 
was  then  called  back  to  New  Brunswick  as  rector  of  the  grammar 
school  in  connection  with  his  alma  mater,  where  he  continued  for  six- 
teen years.  He  was  always  called  "the  Tutor,"  partly  in  derision  and 
partly  in  aflection,  after  the  manner  of  college  students.  During  this 
period  he  received  a  limited  number  of  pupils  into  his  family,  where  the 
kindness  of  his  amiable  wife  provided  for  them  all  the  comforts  of  a 
home.  After  leaving  New  Brunswick  they  were  conducting  a  classical 
school  in  Somerville  when  he  died  there,  March  19,  1SG7.^ 

After  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  indeed  down  to  the  middle  of  this 
century,  schools  were  conducted  very  much  as  they  had  been  in  colonial 
days.  Reading  and  spelling  were  taught  in  classes,  the  former  at  the 
beginning,  the  latter  at  the  end  of  each  of  the  two  daily  sessions.  Most 
of  the  long  day  was  devoted  to  arithmetic,  which  was  taught  sepa- 
rately to  each  individual,  the  master  passing  from  one  i)upil  to  another 
as  they  sat  in  their  seats  at  the  writing  desk  with  their  faces  toward 
the  wall.    There  were  no  blackboards. 

Each  pupil  who  studied  arithmetic  was  required  to  have  not  only  a 
slate  and  pencil,  with  which  he  worked  out  the  problems  in  The  Assist- 
ant, but  also  a  "ciphering  book,"  into  which  he  copied  the  work  done 
upon  the  slate.  I  have  such  a  manuscript  book  before  me.  It  consists 
of  GO  folio  pages  and  has  a  home-spun,  brown  linen  cover.  It  begins 
with  arithmetical  tables  and  continues  with  rules  for  solving  the  prob- 
lems of  each  kind,  followed  by  the  proposed  examples  and  the  solution 
of  each  of  them  to  the  minutest  detail.     These  are  classified  (as  in  the 

'He  was  born  March  8,  1812.  All  three  of  his  children  became  teachers.  His 
only  son,  John  Ward  Thompson,  is  the  principal  of  the  school  at  Upper  Montclair. 


132  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

printed  books)  under  tlie  titles:  Addition,  subtraction,  multiplication, 
division,  reduction  (ascending  and  descendiiig),  the  single  rule  of  three 
in  direct  and  inverse  j)roportioii,  and  i)ractice  (which  is  defined  as  "a 
short  way  of  finding  the  value  of  any  quantity  of  goods  by  the  given 
price  of  one  integer"). 

A  record  at  the  bottom  of  the  last  page  on  subtraction  intimates  the 
arrival  of  a  new  schoolmaster,  and  not  obscurely  hints  that  his  prede- 
cessor had  not  done  his  full  duty.     It  says: 

Having  gone  over  and  grounded  the  learner  in  the  foregoing  rules,  be  now  <-nters 
with  me  in  the  rule  of  multiplication,  May  20,  1784. 

J.  Wm.son,  Schoolmaster. 

This  is  all  I  know  of  "J.  Williamson,  schoolmaster."  "The  learner" 
was  then  less  than  12  years  of  age.  He  left  school  to  earn  his  living 
before  he  was  13.' 

The  school  was  on  Hollants  (i  e.,  Hollaudish)  Brook,  so  called  from 
the  Hollanders  who  had  settled  on  its  banks  and  who  still  spoke  their 
native  tongue.  The  English  name  is  Holland  Brook.  The  schoolhouse 
stood  nearly  half  a  mile  northwest  of  the  present  schoolhouse  (which 
was  built  in  1839)  in  the  village  of  Eeadingtou.  One  of  the  teachers 
here  before  the  Bevolutiou  was  John  White.'  Another  was  John 
Mehelm,  who  afterwards  became  so  well  known  for  his  services  in  New 
Jersey  in  behalf  of  American  independence. 

But,  however  good  the  teacher,  the  boys  of  that  day  were  not  per- 
mitted to  continue  under  his  instruction  long  enough  to  reap  much 
advantage  from  it,  and  the  girls  had  still  less  opportunity  for  learning. 
The  following  letter,  which  x)assed  between  two  graduates  of  the  Hol- 
lants Brook  school,  is  probably  a  fair  specimen  of  the  acquirements  of 
girls  in  country  schools  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  writer  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  one  of  the  principal  business  men  of  the  region.  The  original 
letter  is  in  my  possession : 

AuGES  27. 

Dkak  Miss  i  take  this  opertunity  to  let  yon  now  that  we  are  all  in  good  health 
hoping  these  few  lines  may  iine  yon  iu  the  sam  and  to  let  you  now  that  i  am  a  moste 
a  fronted  at  you  and  sarah  that  you  hav  not  been  to  see  us  yeet 

you  promised  me  that  you  wood  com  often  to  see  me  wen  we  got  doon  here  and 
you  dont  dooe  as  you  have  proniisied  me  wen  you  have  had  so  many  good  opertunitys 
to  come  I  have  seen  John  pass  by  so  often  it  made  me  feel  very  cross  at  j'^ou  to 
think  of  it  we  have  had  so  much  bisness  this  sumer  that  we  have  not  been  able 
for  go  no  were  at  tall  but  I  dooe  supose  that  yon  and  sarahs  mind  runs  so  much  upon 

Mr  M and  on  Edward that  yon  cant  think  of  leving  them    but  com  and 

look  at  some  of  our  raritou  boes  and  to  see   how  you  dooe  like  them    we  dooe 

'Information  respecting  him  may  be  found  iu  " Otzinachson :  a  History  of  the 
West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,"  by  John  F.  Meginnis,  (revised  edition)  pp. 
512-537,  and  in  James  P.  Snell's  History  of  Hunterdon  and  Somerset  Counties,  New 
Jersey,  i)p.  -191-493. 

■^Probably  the  same  John  White  who  had  cDme  from  Strabaue,  in  Ireland,  bringing 
with  him  his  young  cousin,  Joseph  Mnir  Head,  whose  descendants  still  live  in  this 
region. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  133 

intend  to  pay  you  A  vissit  as  soon  as  possible  I  dooe  expect  to  hear  that  you  are 
maried  before  A  grat  wile  let  me  now  wether  the  brookyies  dose  goe  up  the  pon 
yet  or  now  I  see  them  pass  by  here  very  often  and  they  make  it  there  bisness  to 
stop  by  our  spring  give  my  best  respects  to  rebeccah  maccinny  when  you  dooe  see 
her  tell  her  that  we  wood  bee  very  glad  to  see  her  down  to  raritou  I  wish  you  to 
rite  A  letter  and  let  me  now  how  all  the  girls  is  about  redentoun  and  let  me  now 
bow  is  Arae  timbook  bose     my  best  respects  to  you  both 

lomichy '  and  Phebe  ^yises  to  be  remembered  to  you  both  so  now  more  at  present 
but  remain  your  afectioned  friend 

Elizabeth  Simmons 

to  Elizabeth  Morehead 

So  far  as  I  kiiow,  the  lirst  endeavor  to  provide  a  legal  status  for 
scliools  ill  the  State  of  New  Jersey  was  the  act  of  the  legislature 
passed  November  27,  1791,  entitled  "an  act  to  incorporate  societies  for 
the  advancement  of  learning."  It  provided  for  voluntary  societies  who 
may  elect  trustees,  not  exceeding  seven,  to  constitute  the  corporation. 
These  might  purchase  and  hold  goods  and  lands  whose  yearly  value 
should  not  exceed  $4,000;  call  meetings  for  the  election  of  their  suc- 
cessors; make  useful  regulations;  and  must  keep  a  record  of  their 
proceedings.  Under  this  law  the  Holland  Brook  School,  above  men- 
tioned, was  incorporated,  August  '4,  1804,  by  Abraham  Post,  Peter 
Quick,  Isaac  l>erkaw,  William  Dalley,  \yilliam  Spader,  Cornelius  Van 
Horn,  Abraham  Smock,  Andrew  Mattis,  Adrian  Stryker,  Peter  Ten 
Brook,  William  Ditmars,  and  Derrick  De  Mott. 

Having  elected  five  of  their  number  trustees,  they  caused  their  pro- 
ceedings to  be  recorded  in  the  registry  for  special  deeds  for  the  county 
of  Hunterdon,  from  which  it  appears  that  Iheyhad  adopted  a  constitu- 
tion and  laws  "  for  the  government  of  themselves  and  the  school,"  and 
defining  the  duties  of  the  teacher,  who  was  required  to  sign  an  agree- 
ment to  comply  with  said  rules.    The  seventh  rule  was — 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  refrain  from  spiritnoiis  liquors  while  engaged 
in  this  school,  and  not  to  enter  the  schoolhouse  while  intoxicated,  nor  lose  any  time 
through  such  intemperance. 

The  first  teacher  engaged  under  this  incorporation  was  Tunis  Ten 
Eyck,  undoubtedly  a  native.  Other  teachers  in  this  vicinity  during 
the  succeeding  half  century  were  Henry  B.  Mendham  from  England, 
George  Hamilton  from  Scotland,  Harry  Knox  from  Connecticut,  Wil- 
liam Armstrong  from  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  John  Schenck,  the 
brothers  Eli  and  William  Sherwood,  Bodney  T.  Hyde,  Aaron  Howell, 
Joseph  Thompson,  Friend  D.  Lord,  Elbridge  W.  Merritt,  Elizabeth 
Webb,  etc.  The  first  of  the  corporators  was  Abraham  Post,  who  was 
born  October  11, 1740,  and  died  February  11, 1837,  having  lived  almost 
a  century.  Strong,  active,  impetuous,  possessed  of  a  strong  sense  of 
justice,  he  had  been  an  ardent  patriot  during  the  Revolutionarj'  war, 
and  was  now  glad  to  do  all  he  could  to  perpetuate  the  liberties  for 

'■ "  Lomichy"  is  phonetic  for  the  Dutch  Lam-met-je,  lambkin,  a  pet  name  for  a  girL 


134  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

which  he  had  fought,  by  providing  for  the  training  of  those  upon  whom 
the  care  of  such  liberties  must  soon  devolve.' 

Many  of  the  teachers  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  were  young 
men  trying  their  newly-fledged  faculties  preparatory  to  completing 
their  studies  for  a  profession.  If  they  did  not  have  experience,  they 
had  enthusiasm.  Being  young  themselves  they  could  understand  their 
pupils  and  sympathize  with  them.  And  they  saw  the  lights  as  well  as 
the  shadows  of  a  schoolmaster's  life.  They  knew  how  to  be  grave  and 
how  to  be  gay.  They  knew  the  relief  of  trifling  on  occasion  (desipere  in 
loco). 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  one  of  these  to  a  young  man  who 
the  year  before  had  been  his  companion  at  the  famous  boarding  school 
of  Enoch  Lewis.  It  came  into  my  hands  several  years  ago  with  other 
effects  of  the  person  to  whom  it  was  written:^ 

West  Fallowfield,  J/«(/  26,  ISIO. 
Respected  Friend:  The  long-looked- for  period  has  arrived  when  to  ujy  satisfac- 
tion I  was  to  receive  thy  letter.  Thee  mentions  that  thee  has  been  informed  that  we 
had  .some  very  high  blades  at  school  during  the  last  term,  which  I  can  insure  thee 
is  the  truth;  for  I  do  not  suppose  there  ever  was  a  time  since  the  school  was  opened 
that  there  was  as  much  mischief  carried  on  as  at  the  present  time.  I  left  school  on 
the  12th  of  May,  and  went  tcmy  father's  house.  I  tarried  there  but  a  short  time, 
until  I  undertook  a  school  in  the  neighborhood  of  Doe  Run,  and  now  I  am  teaching 
there.     But, 

Of  all  professions  that  this  world  has  known, 
From  clowns  and  cobblers  upward  to  the  throne, 
From  the  grave  architect  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
Down  to  the  framer  of  a  farthing  broom, 
The  worse  for  care  and  undeserved  abuse, 
The  first  in  real  dignity  and  use 
(If  skilled  to  teach  and  diligent  to  rule) 
Is  the  learn'd  master  of  a  little  school. 

*  *  ^  -^  i- 

I  am  teaching  school,  as  I  said  before,  and  a  tarual  school  it  is  when  I  am  teacher. 
I  do  suppose  I  tire  thy  patience,  but  I  intend,  for  all  that,  to  give  thee  some  actouut 
of  my  school.  In  the  first  place,  I  will  giv^e  thee  a  general  description  and  tlien  an 
iudividual  description.  There  are  about  (although  I  have  not  counted)  three  schol- 
ars about  the  size  of  Tom  Thumb,  and  the  others  are  a  size  smaller.  All  of  them 
are  a  very  great  ways  in  the  spelling  book.  However,  there  are  none  of  them  but 
have  got  to  the  letter  A,  and  I  believe  the  foremost  is  as  far  as  B.  This  much  I 
thought  pro])er  to  inform  thee  of  with  respect  to  thi'  school  in  general.  Now  for 
the  individuals.  The  first  I  shall  say  anything  about  is  one  with  no  seat  in  his 
trousers  and  two  holes  in  each  knee.  The  second  is  a  rusty-looking  little  soul,  but 
he  is  the  only  one  in  the  school  that  has  any  coat  on,  and  when  they  were  making  it 
they  had  not  cloth  enough  to  put  but  one  sleeve  to  it.  The  other  sleeve  was  torn 
otf  fighting  bumblebees.  The  third  I  shall  saj'  nothing  about,  as  he  is  beyond 
description,  and  therefore  will  end. 

From  thy  friend,  TowxsiiXD  Haines.' 

'  Further  information  respecting  him  maybe  found  in  Snell's  History  of  Hunterdon 
and  Somerset  Counties,  N.  .!.,  pp.  488,489. 

'-.Josiah  M.  Reeve.     (See  page  187.) 

'Townsend  Haines  was  born  in  Chester  County,  Pa.,  January  7,  1792,  and  died  there 
in  October,  1865.      He  was  an  eloc^uent  and  accomplished  lawyer,  an  upright  judge. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  135 

The  ciplieriug  book  was  in  common  use  even  down  to  the  middle  of 
tbe  present  century.  I  have  in  my  possession  such  a  book,  written 
between  1820  and  1825.  Ihe  pupils  of  that  day  progressed  far  beyond 
those  of  the  preceding  generation.  This  book  begins  with  the  single 
rule  of  three.  It  continues  with  the  double  rule  of  three,  practice,  tare 
and  tret,  interest,  discount,  equation  of  payments,  barter,  loss  and  gain, 
fellowship,  foreign  exchange,  vulgar  fractions,  decimals,  evolution,  arith- 
metical progression,  geometrical  progression,  alligation,  position  (single 
and  double),  combination,  duodecimals,  and  promiscuous  questions. 

In  every  case  a  rule  is  given,  but  no  reason.  The  rule  is  simply  a 
technical  direction  how  to  reach  the  result.  Under  "combination,'"  it 
is  asked :  "  How  many  different  ways  may  a  butcher  select  50  sheep  out 
of  a  flock  containing  100,  so  as  not  to  make  the  same  choice  twice!" 
Seven  folio  pages  of  closelj^  written  figures  are  required  to  solve  the 
problem,  and  the  solution  appears  to  be  readied  at  last  by  dividing  a 
number  indicated  by  ninety-four  figures  by  one  indicated  by  sixty-five, 
i.  e.,  2938271191429183300971725102665673283896435034902700G0231175- 
5389311758958772355072000000000000  by  304112157017133780437351081- 
658197G88443776415G89G0512000000000000. 

After  leaving  school,  the  writer  of  this  book  studied  mensuration, 
navigation,  and  land  surveying,  recording  his  studies  in  a  book  like  his 


and  served  also  as  secretary  of  his  native  state  and  Register  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States.  With  tine  capacities  for  literature,  tbose  who  knew  him  best  regretted 
that  he  devoted  so  little  attention  to  it.  He  will  be  best  known  doubtless  to  pos- 
terity by  his  grajihic  picture  of  domestic  happiness  in  humble  life  entitled,  Boh 
Fletcher  the  Plowman  and  Judy  his  Wife,  sung  to  "Lord  Elcho's  Favorite"  (to  which 
Burns  wrote,  Mtj  Tocher's  the  Jeivel). 

The  letter  above  quoted  enables  me  to  identify  the  author  of  an  anonymous  poem 
which  I  find  in  the  New  York  Weekly  Museum  of  December  21,  1816,  entitled,  The 
Village  Schoolmaster. 

The  first  lines  are  those  given  above.     I  append  about  half  of  those  which  follow. 

Not  he  who  guides  the  legs,  or  skills  the  clown 

To  square  his  fists,  and  knock  his  fellow  down : 

Not  he  who  shows  the  still  more  barbarous  art 

To  parry  thrusts  and  pierce  the  unguarded  heart; 

But  that  good  man,  who,  faithful  to  his  charge. 

Still  toils  the  opening  reason  to  enlarge: 

And  leads  the  growing  mind,  through  everj^  stage, 

From  humble  A,  B,  C,  to  God's  own  page; 

From  black,  rough  jiot-hooks,  horrid  to  tlie  sight, 

To  fairest  lines  that  fioat  o'er  purest  white  : 

From  Ni'iiEUATiox,  through  an  opening  way, 

Till  dark  Annuities  seem  clear  as  day: 

Pours  o'er  the  mind  a  Hood  of  mental  light, 

J^spands  its  wings,  and  gives  it  powers  for  flight, 

Till  earth's  remotest  bounds  and  heaven's  bright  train, 

He  trace,  weigh,  measure,  picture  and  explain. 

If  such  his  toil,  sure  honor  and  regard. 

And  wealth  and  fame  will  be  his  dear  reward; 

Sure  every  tongue  will  utter  forth  his  praise, 

And  blessings  gild  the  evening  of  his  davs. 


136  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

ciphering  book,  and  became  the  most  successful  surveyor,  as  well  as 
teacher,  in  all  that  region. 

The  first  school  of  which  I  have  any  personal  recollection  was  a 
counterpart  of  the  "Dame  schooP'  of  New  England  a  hundred  years 
before,  save  that  boys  no  longer  wore  knickerbockers.  In  summer, 
boys  and  girls  alike  went  barefoot,  and  doors  and  windows  were  left 
wide  open.  Mosquitoes  had  not  yet  reached  so  far  inland.  The  school 
was  held  in  "the  old  kitchen"  which  no  longer  served  as  such,  though 
it  was  still  a  sort  of  storeroom  for  utensils  used  occasionally  in  a 
farmer's  family.^  We  had  two  half  holidays  a  week.  Monday  mornings 
the  room  was  occupied  by  the  tubs  and  kettles  for  the  weekly  washing. 
Saturday  afternoons  were  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  "boonder"  and  the 
"file"  to  prepare  for  the  Sunday  school  (which,  also,  was  the  first 
known  in  those  parts. )^  It  was  a  pleasure  for  the  children  in  summer, 
after  the  hebdomadal  purification,  to  gather  green  branches  with  which 
to  make  a  bower  of  the  sooty  fireplace.  This  was  a  neighborhood 
school;  but  Betsey  Wyckoff,  the  teacher,  was  paid  by  my  father.  She 
ever  retained  an  affection  for  his  children,  "which  kindly  feeling  they 
did  not  fail  to  reciprocate. 

Such  an  improvised  schoolroom  was  more  comfortable  than  most  of  the 
countrj^  schoolhouses  of  the  day.  Professor  Kalm,  who  visited  his 
countrymen  in  New  Jersey  near  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  com- 
miserated their  condition  because  they  had  no  moss,  such  as  grows  so 
abundantly  in  Sweden,  with  which  to  stop  the  crevices  of  their  log  huts, 
but  were  compelled  to  use  clay  instead.  My  judgment  is  that  the  clay 
was  the  better  protection  against  cold;  and  that  the  log  schoolhouses 
and  dwelling  houses  alike  were  made  habitable  only  by  its  use.  But 
before  the  middle  of  this  century  the  log  schoolhouse  had  given  place 
to  one  built  of  boards,  though  innocent  of  plaster  and  paint;  and  it  is 
quite  doubtful  whether  it  was  as  comfortable  in  winter  as  the  log  edifice 
which  it  sui^planted.  Indeed,  the  country  schoolhouse  of  the  first  half 
of  this  century  would  now  be  considered  a  disgrace  to  a  civilized  com- 
munity. Usually  it  was  perched  upon  the  side  of  the  public  road,  rest- 
ing eijually  ui)on  it  and  the  land  of  the  adjacent  owner,  who  quietly 
ignored  the  trespass.  Claiming  thus  only  a  permissive  existence  and 
having  no  right  to  occupy  space  on  earth,  it  seemed  to  feel  its  own 
insiguitieance.  It  sqnalted  close  to  the  ground,  and,  in  one  instance  at 
least,  which  I  remember,  hid  its  humble  head  beneath  the  branches  of 
a  huge  red-apple  tree.  It  was  square,  with  the  door  in  the  middle  of 
the  side  next  the  road. 

The  door  was  in  two  pieces,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country. 
TJsuallj' the  upper  one  of  these  pieces,  "the  upper  door,"  as  it  was 

'  Compare  page  107. 

-It  was  many  years  later  T,\'ben  I  lirst  learned  that  "boonder'"  and  "file"  are  not 
English  words  but  Dutch.  The  boender  was  a  serubbiug  brush  made  from  splints 
of  the  tougli  swamp  white  oak.  Fell  is  a  dialectic  form  of  dweil,  a  house  cloth  or 
moi>  (without  a  handle). 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  137 

called,  had,  nailed  upon  the  side,  a  strip  whicli  projecting  downward  an 
inch,  controlled  also  in  one  direction  the  movements  of  "the  under 
door.'  Both  must  be  pushed  in  order  to  effect  an  entrance,  and  the 
under  door  could  not  be  opened  until  it  was  released  from  its  bondage 
by  the  opening  of  its  superior.  Hence  it  was  usually  latchless.  But 
in  some  adventure  of  some  youthful  Eobin  Hood,  the  memory  of  which 
had  grown  dim  in  the  laj)se  of  ages,  the  projecting  strip  had  been 
torn  off  and  the  under  door  was  movable  without  any  reference  to  its 
upper  door.  The  rarity,  however,  of  this  capability  of  motion  was  so 
great  that  no  one  ever  thought  of  attempting  to  make  use  of  it  until 
an  urchin  one  day  astonished  his  comrades  and  the  master  by  a  sudden 
and  dexterous  egress  by  means  of  the  under  door,  without  opening  the 
upper,  by  so  doing  escaping  a  blow  from  the  falling  rod. 

The  room  was  16  feet  square.  It  had  six  windows  of  eight  small 
panes  each,  with  tight  board  shutters.  These  had  once  been  provided 
with  hooks  and  staples,  but  they  had  long  since  been  broken  off".  In 
the  absence  of  these,  the  shutters  were  fastened  by  propping  against 
them  stakes  taken  from  the  neighboring  fence. 

Nor  was  this  condition  of  the  shutters  without  its  effect  upon  the 
scholars.  They  took  advantage  of  it  on  the  last  day  of  the  quarter  to 
''lock  the  schoolmaster  in,"  while  they  enjoyed  a  half  holiday.  The 
native  masters  took  this  kindly,  as  it  gave  them  also  a  half  holiday,  and 
was  the  invariable  custom.  But  the  surprise  and  anger  of  an  occa- 
sional stranger  when  he  found  the  pupils,  who  had  been  so  docile  for 
twelve  weeks,  suddenly  transformed  into  such  determined  rebels,  were 
ludicrous.  In  one  instance  one  of  these  men  succeeded  in  wearying 
out  his  youthful  jailers  by  persistingly  refusing  to  make  the  usual  com- 
promise of  dismissing  them  at  once  and  calling  ''the  quarter  out."  The 
severe  castigation  which  he  administered  is  still  remembered  by  those 
who  received  it.  But  he  was  forced  to  emigrate  to  other  regions  in 
order  to  escape  the  ire  of  parents  who  never  forgave  him  for  his  igno- 
rance of  the  usual  rites  and  ceremonies  of  "the  last  day  of  the  quarter." 

When  inside  fastenings  were  substituted  for  the  stakes  the  previous 
plan  was  reversed.  The  scholars  locked  the  teacher  out  and  themselves 
in  and  "  played  school,"  or  what  else  they  chose,  until  he  appeared  at 
the  window  with  his  hands  full  of  cakes  and  candies,  which,  being 
added  to  the  announcement  of  the  remainder  of  the  day  as  a  holiday, 
confirmed  the  compromise,  and  all  departed  rejoicing. 

The  atmosphere  of  the  schoolhouse  was  peculiar.  How  sweet  the 
smell  of  the  sap  as  it  exuded  from  the  green  hickory  logs  laid  across 
the  stove  to  dry!  How  cold  the  room  in  the  morning!  How  the  stove 
smoked  and  sulked,  and  would  not  burn  until  toward  noon,  when  the 
sun  shone  so  warm  that  we  could  have  done  without  the  stove  if  we 
could  only  have  been  in  the  sunshine!  The  crevices  in  the  floor  served 
to  let  the  slate  pencils  out  and  cold  air  in,  enough  to  keep  our  feet 
apparently  in  the  regions  of  perpetual  snow,  while  our  heads  were 


138  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

roasting  in  the  climate  of  the  torrid  zone  above.  What  treasures  from 
pockets  were  confiscated  from  time  to  time  and  burned  in  the  old  stove — 
nuts,  strings,  song  books,  games,  pin  cases,  etc ! 

A  favorite  method  of  spending  time,  even  in  school,  was  a  small  spe- 
cies of  gambling  with  pins.  These  pins  were  kept  in  cases  of  elder 
from  which  the  pith  had  been  punched  and  each  end  plugged  with  a 
"stopper."  These  were  passed  from  one  to  another,  each  participant 
taking  an  equal  number.  If  the  master  saw  the  passing,  however,  he 
confiscated  the  case  and  threw  it  into  the  stove  unopened.  On  one 
occasion  he  secured  five  or  six  of  these  cases  at  once  and  disposed  of 
them  as  usual.  This  time  they  had  been  filled  with  gunpowder!  But 
they  fell  upon  the  ashes  and  did  not  ignite  until  he  began  to  stir  the 
coals,  when  suddenly  an  explosion  took  place,  frightening  him  so  that 
he  cried  out  with  alarm,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the  boys. 

Around  the  stove  we  sat  upon  four  long  hickory  slabs  elevated  upon 
the  top  of  four  i3oles.  And  on  these  scaftbldings,  suspended  like 
Mahomet's  coffin  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  without  any  sup- 
port for  the  back  or  rest  for  the  feet,  the  little  martycs  of  science  were 
compelled  to  sit  eight  mortal  hours  a  day,  while  in  loud  and  rapid 
whisper  they  conned  the  column  of  words  in  Webster's  spelling  book 
from  "Baker"  to  "  Zany," inclusive. 

In  due  time  we  were  promoted  to  seats  at  the  writing  desk.  This  was 
a  narrow  board  extending  all  around  the  room,  inclined  at  an  angle  of 
45  degrees,  and  covered  with  a  variety  of  carved  work  and  graven  images, 
which  the  skill  of  a  Oanova  himself  could  not  have  imitated.  In  and 
around  these  evidences  of  precocious  talent  was  a  deep  groove,  exem- 
plifying what  Dr.  Blair  calls  "  the  curve  of  beauty,"  through  which, 
when  tired  of  "  playing  pin,"  we  used  to  roll  shot  when  the  master's 
back  was  turned,  though  at  the  imminent  peril  of  our  knuckles  if 
detected. 

The  first  attempt  at  writing  was  made  with  a  goose  quill  upon  a  sin- 
gle sheet  of  paper  folded  to.  a  <iuarto  form.  These  sheets  were  bought 
for  a  cent  each  at  the  country  "  store."  As  a  specimen  of  the  kind  of 
justice  administered,  I  recollect  that  for  pushing  a  boy  down  in  the  road 
so  that  the  paper  he  had  just  bought  was  soiled,  we  were  both  punished, 
I  receiving  five  strokes  of  the  rod  and  he  seven.  The  goose  quills  were 
commonly  souglit  for  from  the  brook,  and  unless  the  master  was  care- 
ful in  "  mending  pens  "  the  supply  sometimes  ran  very  short.  One  mas- 
ter was  so  profuse  in  his  cutting  as  to  excite  remark  throughout  "  the 
district."  But  this  wastefulness  was  corrected  when,  on  scolding  a 
little  fellow  for  being  so  long  without  a  pen,  the  lad  replied,  with  an 
air  strangely  compounded  of  innocence  and  impudence,  that  such  a 
state  of  affairs  could  not  be  remedied  until  people  learned  how  to  make 
pens  without  cutting  the  quill  all  up! 

The  smaller  the  hand  of  the  writer,  the  larger  the  letters  he  was 
required  to  make.     Children,  the  compass  of  whose  lingers  was  not  half 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  139 

an  inch,  were  set  to  making,  first  "  strokes,"  then  "  hooks,"  '^  pot  hooks 
and  trammels,"  and  finally  letters,  1^  inches  long.  How  we  toiled  at 
that  high  board,  with  head  down  and  tongne  out  like  tired  oxen,  to 
accomplish  the  mighty  task,  the  master  walking  to  and  fro  behind, 
stopping  occasionally  to  insure  a  more  regular  curve  or  a  more  delicate 
hair  mark  by  a  rap  over  the  knuckles  with  his  odious  wooden  "ruler." 

"  The  Center  School,"  as  it  was  called,  was  located  iu  the  center  of  a 
farming  community  in  which  there  was  no  village,  though  there  were 
more  homes  than  there  are  now.  This  schoolhouse  was  about  2  miles 
northwesterly  from  the  "  Head  of  Earitan."  A  public  meeting  was 
held  in  "  the  said  Center  schoolhouse,  May  8,  1824."  The  chairman  of 
the  meeting  and  the  president  of  the  first  board  of  trustees  was  Capt. 
Henry  A.  Post. 

October  ],  1824,  David  Nevius,  for  a  nominal  consideration,  bound 
himself,  his  heirs,  executors,  and  administrators  to  "leave  the  Center 
schoolhouse  staudiug  on  the  corner  of  his  land  near  Jacob  Yrcom's, 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  neighborhood  as  a  schoolhouse,  for  that 
purpose  only  and  nothing  else."  This  obligation  the  trustees  recorded 
upon  the  first  page  of  their  book  of  minutes,  following  it  with  the 
record  of  the  meeting  for  incorporation  and  a  certificate  signed  by  all 
the  five,  that  "  we  have  taken  upon  ourselves  to  be  trustees,"  according 
to  the  act  of  1794.     The  record  then  proceeds  as  follows : 

In  conformity  to  tlie  power  vested  in  tlieni  by  the  aforesaid  act  of  incorporation, 
the  trustees  have  agreed  upon  the  following  regulations  for  the  government  of  them- 
selves as  incorporate,  which  are  to  he  considered  as  constitutional  articles,  subject, 
however,  to  amendments  at  the  expiration  of  every  year  by  a  majority  of  the  trus- 
tees consenting  to  such  amendment  or  amendments. 

Article  1.  There  shall  be  chosen  annually,  by  a  majority  of  votes,  a  president 
and  secretary.  The  bu8lne.ss  of  the  president  is  to  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the 
trustees,  to  preserve  order,  to  put  all  questions,  and  when  there  shall  be  an  equal 
number  of  votes  on  any  question  befoi'e  the  trustees,  he  shall  have  a  casting  vote. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  secretarjf^  to  keep  a  regular  book,  in  which  he  shall 
record  the  proceedings  of  every  meeting  and  such  other  i)articalars  as  the  trustees 
may  deem  expedient. 

Article  2.  The  business  of  the  trustees  is  to  tend  the  meetings  of  the  incorpora- 
tion, to  form  such  rules  for  the  government  of  the  school  as  they  from  time  to  time 
deem  projier,  and  to  transact  all  business  which  they  may  deem  requisite  for  the 
prosperity  of  said  school. 

Article  3.  There  shall  be  a  stated  meeting  of  all  the  employers  once  every  year 
for  the  purpose  of  choosing  trustees.  Notification  of  the  said  meeting  shall  be  given 
by  advertisement  posted  on  the  door  of  the  schoolhouse,  by  order  of  the  president, 
signed  by  the  secretary,  two  weeks  previous  to  the  appointed  time  for  meeting,  or 
notice  given  personally. 

[Article  4.]  The  trustees  then  chosen  shall,  as  soon  as  convenient  after  they  are 
elected,  meet  and  choose  the  ofticers  referred  to  in  the  first  article,  from  among 
themselves,  and  after  the  aforesaid  officers  are  chosen  they  may  then  proceed  to  the 
transaction  of  the  business. 

[Article  5.]  The  aforesaid  articles  not  to  undergo  any  alterations  within  the  time 
of  one  year. 


140  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

RULES  AND  RKGCLATIOXS  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CENTER  SCHOOL. 

As  order  is  requisite  for  tlie  prosperity  of  every  society,  it  must  be,  particularly, 
for  that  which  has  in  A'iew  the  training  up  of  children  to  render  them  useful  and 
respectable  as  members  of  a  civil  and  religious  community. 

The  following  rules  have  therefore  been  agreed  to  for  the  government  of  the  afore- 
said school : 

1.  Resolved,  That  any  person  inclining  to  teach  said  school  must  apj^ly  to  the 
president  of  said  trustees  to  examine  the  per8(m  so  applying  of  his  capability  in 
teaching  school,  and  if  he  appears  to  be  a  suitable  person,  the  president  shall  rec- 
ommend him  to  the  neighborhood  as  such. 

2.  As  spelling  is  the  foundation  of  good  reading,  and  therefore  essential  to  the 
school,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  every  morning  and  evening  at  the  close 
of  school  to  make  all  those  who  can  spell  to  stand  in  regular  order  and  to  spell  out 
of  the  book,  each  his  word  in  order  as  the  teacher  shall  think  proper. 

3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  make  all  the  scholars  say  three  lessons  to 
him  in  every  half  day,  besides  the  sjielling  lesson,  except  such  as  shall  cipher;  they 
shall  say  one  reading  lesson  in  each  half  daj". 

4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  see  that  those  who  write  keep  their  copy 
books  neat  and  clean,  that  they  may  be  shown  to  the  trustees  of  the  school  on  the 
last  Saturday  of  every  quarter,  if  not  every  month. 

5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  make  the  cipherers  commit  well  to  mem- 
ory the  different  rules  of  arithmetic,  and  when  the  trustees  attend  to  examine  them 
on  said  rules,  if  they  request  it. 

C.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  open  school,  from  the  20th  of  March  to 
the  20th  of  September,  every  morning  at  8  o'clock,  or  as  near  that  hour  as  possible, 
and  every  afternoon  at  2  o'clock,  and  out  at  6;  and  from  the  20th  of  September  till 
the  20th  of  March  every  morning  at  9  and  every  afternoon  at  1,  and  out  at  4. 

7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  keep  strict  rules  and  good  order  in  said 
school,  but  not  to  make  use  of  any  unreasonable  or  unlawful  means,  so  as  to  not 
have  the  children  abused. 

8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  refrain  from  all  spirituous  liquors  while 
engaged  in  this  school,  and  not  to  enter  the  house  when  intoxicated,  nor  to  lose  time 
through  such  intemperance. 

9.  No  teacher  shall  enter  the  school  unless  his  article  [of  agreement  with  employ- 
ers] is  examined  by  the  trustees  to  ascertain  [whether  he  has]  a  sufficient  number  of 
scholars;  and  if  the  trustees  shall  think  a  sufficient  nnmber  of  scholars  subscribed 
he  tlien  may  open  school. 

"All  of  which  rules,"  contibues  the  teacher  who  records  them,  "I,  the 
teacher,  agree  to  subscribe,  subjecting-  myself,  however,  to  removal  from 
school  by  the  trustees  if  I  do  not,  with  pay  only  for  the  time  of  having 
taught."  The  signature  is  in  capitals,  so  ornamental  as  to  be  illegible. 
Similar  agreements,  in  better  English,  were  signed  by  his  successors, 
and  their  chirography  is,  fortunately,  less  ambitious.  Their  names  are 
Aaron  Howell,  Henry  Cox,  George  H.  Stinchfield,  Eobert  Dumont, 
Thomas  Armstrong,  James  A.  Stewart,  John  A.  Schenck,  Luther  Alleu, 
Henry  Vroom,  William  Armstrong,  Herman  Hageman,  Aaron  Thomp- 
son, Jacob  G.  Schomp,  John  Simonson,  Cornelia  Y.  Williamson  (May  25, 
18.37,  the  tirst  female  teacher),  Cornelius  T.  D.  Van  Deventer,  D.  Frazer 
Lawrence  (who  adds  to  his  name  the  title  "Prec"),  John  S.  Patrick, 
liobert  Allen,  ]Srathaniel  Levi  Dalley,  Henry  P>.  Lewis,  William  T.  C. 
JMills,  Joseph  0.  Pell,  Samuel  K.  Walker,  Edward  B.  Gibson,  Lucius 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  141 

Kellogg,  Halsteacl  Baker,  Carlos  L.  Hurd,  Samuel  S.  Gaston,  George  B. 
Grumaii,  aud  others. 

John  D.  Post;  who  signed  the  obligation  July  30,  1837,  was  a  typical 
teacher  of  those  days. 

Joseph  Thompson  was  a  teacher  in  this  school  in  1828,  1834,  and 
again  in  1811,  when  the  following  agreement  was  made: 

Joseph  Thorapsou  hereby  agrees  to  teach  a  common  English  day  school  for  the 
term  of  thirteeu  weeks  of  live  days  iu  each  week  (or  an  equivalent)  iu  the  Center 
schoolhouse,  being  District  No.  8.  of  Bridgewater,  to  which  is  attached  a  part  of 
Readingtou  Township.  He  will  give  instruction  to  all  the  youth  of  the  district  that 
may  be  placed  under  his  care  in  some  or  all  of  the  following  branches,  as  their 
capacities  may  reach,  viz  :  Orthography,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  English  gram- 
mar, geography,  history,  composition,  and  bookkeeping  by  single  entry.  And  we, 
the  trustees  of  said  school,  do  hereby  agree  to  furnish  said  teacher  with  fuel  and  alt 
necessaries  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  said  school,  aud  at  the  expiration  of 
the  term  pay  to  him  or  his  order  in  compensation  for  his  services  the  sum  of  sixty- 
five  dollars.  The  said  teacher  shall  have  the  privilege  of  iustructlug  his  own  chil- 
dren in  said  school  and  not  be  required  to  pay  any  proportional  part  of  the  above 
sum.  All  pupils  which  do  not  belong  in  the  district  and  attend  this  school  to  learn  any 
of  the  above-named  branches,  one  half  of  their  schooling  shall  belong  to  the  teacher, 
the  other  half  to  go  in  the  funds  of  the  school.  The  excess  of  charge  for  higher 
branches  (if  any  are  taught)  shall  Ijelong  exclusivelj^  to  the  teacher.  If  circum- 
stances should  occur  to  render  it  necessary  to  discontinue  the  school  before  the  expi- 
ration of  the  term,  a  majority  of  the  trustees  or  the  teacher  may  discontinue,  and  he 
receive  pay  for  the  time  then  taught. 

In  witness  whereof  the  parties  have  to  these  presents  interchangeably  set  their 
hands  this  thirtieth  day  of  October,  iu  the  year  of  our  Lord  1841. 

Joseph  Thompson,  Teacher. 
Abraham  A.  Amerman, 
Peter  Q.  Brokaw, 
Abraham  Amerman, 

Trustees. 

This  teacher  was  the  first  to  introduce  into  the  schools  of  this  region 
the  use  of  the  blackboard,  and  the  first  who  ventured  to  ask  questions 
upon  the  reading  lesson.  In  those  days  the  only  reading  book  was  the 
New  Testament.  On  one  occasion  the  members  of  the  reading  class, 
which  extended  all  the  way  down  the  side  of  the  room,  were  told  to 
close  their  books,  aud  when  they  had  done  so  the  questioning  began. 
They  had  just  read  the  narrative  of  the  miraculous  draft  of  fishes^ 
but,  as  usual,  their  attention  had  been  given  so  closely  to  the  i^ronun- 
ciation  of  the  words  as  to  prevent  apprehension  of  their  meauiug. 
When  the  teacher  reminded  them  that  they  had  been  reading  about 
ships  so  heavily  laden  that  they  began  to  sink,  and  asked  what  cargo 
they  carried  that  was  so  heavy,  none  of  them  could  answer.  Presently 
they  began  to  guess;  and  when  "stones"  and  ''iron*'  aud  "lead"  and 
"cattle"  aud  "  horses"  and  every  heavy  thing,  animate  and  inanimate, 
had  been  guessed,  one  stolid  lad,  who  had  not  yet  spoken,  broke  the 
silence  by  the  solemn  ejaculation,  "  Loaded  with  dogs."  The  story 
seems  incredible,  but  I  have  often  heard  it  from  the  teacher's  lips,  and 


142  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

it  is  perfectly  in  accordauce  with  the  method -of  reading  then  current 
in  the  schools. 

Lindley  Murray's  English  Reader  was  afterwards  used  by  the 
highest  class,  but  its  selections  were  far  beyond  the  capacity  of  the 
pupils.  One  of  them  included  the  comparison  of  the  relation  between 
the  divine  mind  and  the  human  mind  to  that  existing  between  the 
hyperbola  and  its  asymtote,  though  these  terms  were  not  used.  This 
teacher's  fertility  of  resources  enabled  him  to  illustrate  (not  demon- 
strate) this  problem  satisfactorily  by  two  lines  regarded  as  protracted 
indefinitely  and  represented  not  by  chalk  marks  but  by  strings. 

There  were  no  globes,  and  geography  was  taught  in  the  method 
suggested  by  Philip  Freneau,  though  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 
the  teacher  had  read  the  writings  of  the  New  Jersey  poet: 

Your  scholars  have  not  been  studious  enough  or  attentive  enough  to  gain  a  rational 
idea  of  the  globe  of  the  earth  from  a  plane  surface  on  paper.  You  therefore  pro- 
cure a  large  round  pippin  or  an  orange,  aud  mark  thereon  the  equator,  the  tropics, 
the  pohir  circles,  with  the  parallels  of  latitude  and  longitude;  you  further  repre- 
sent the  difterent  cities  of  the  world  and  their  situations  by  pins  stuck  into  the  apple 
or  orange.' 

This  teacher  believed  that  the  thought  of  God  in  the  things  that  He 
has  made  must  always  be  worthy  of  study,  and  that  the  plants  and 
stars  and  stones  which  all  of  us  see  all  life  long  ought  to  be  sources  of 
ceaseless  gratification  to  minds  capable  of  unlimited  development  God- 
ward.  Accordingly  lie  availed  himself  of  every  possible  way  to  learn 
aud  teach  at  least  the  elements  of  botany,  astronomy,  and  mineralogy. 

About  this  time  Mrs.  Almira  Lincoln  Phelps,  the  sister  of  Emma 
Willard,  had  a  girls'  school  at  Rahway.  Her  little  book  on  primary 
botany  was  used  in  summer  for  an  hour  before  the  ordinary  exercises 
began,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  chose  to  attend;  and  thus  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  names  and  characteristics  of  the  wild  flowers  of  the  vicinity 
became  known  to  many. 

Elihu  Burritt's  maps  and. geography  of  the  heavens  furnished  aid  to 
the  study  of  astronomy  for  those  who  accepted  the  invitation  to  spend 
the  long  winter  evenings  at  the  schoolmaster's  home,  studying  alter- 
nately the  book  by  the  side  of  the  stove  and  the  stars  in  the  frosty  air. 
A  considerable  number  of  the  larger  pupils  thus  became  more  or  less 
acquainted  with  these  "  electives,"  but  no  satisfactory  help  was  found 
to  the  study  of  mineralogy. 

'The  miscellaneous  works  of  Mr.  Philip  Freneau,  Philadelphia,  1788,  p.  110.  The 
third  and  most  complete  collection  of  his  writings  was  issued  from  his  own  jiress  at 
Moumouth,  N.  J.,  in  1795.  "Perhaps  the  most  versatile  of  our  early  writers  of  verse 
was  Philip  Freneau  (1752-1832).  *  *  *  He  composed  patriotic  songs  and  ballads, 
satirized  Tories,  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  Franklin,  Adams,  Jeft'erson,  Madison,  and 
Monroe,  and  was  in  his  day  quite  a  literary  power." — (E.  P.  Whipple.) 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  143 

At  a  public  meetiug  held  in  the  Center  schoolhouse,  May  23,  1838, 
tlie  school  was  reorganized  under  tlie  "Act  to  establish  common 
schools,"  passed  May  1, 1838. 

At  a  similar  meeting  held  in  April,  1840,  it  was  resolved  that  '*  that 
part  of  the  fifth  article  of  the  constitution  which  reads  'and  every 
afternoon  at  2  o'clock  and  out  at  G'  shall  hereafter  be  read  'and 
every  afternoon  at  half  past  1  and  out  at  half  past  5  o'clock.' " 

In  1847  the  Center  school  district  was  consolidated  with  the  one  east 
of  it  and  a  new  schoolhouse  built  a  mile  farther  east,  in  siglit  of  the 
"Head  of  Raritan,''  where  there  was  a  grove;  a  playground  was 
attached,  and  the  name  changed  to  "  Cedar  Grove." 

The  last  entry  in  the  record  book  of  the  Center  school  really  pertains 
to  the  Cedar  Grove  school.  It  was  made  by  Andrew  Fleming,  president 
of  the  board  of  trustees,  February  19,  1849,  and  is  as  follows: 

This  day  hired  John  B.  Thompson  to  teach  school  iu  district  No.  2,  of  Brauch- 
burg;  to  insure  him  33  scholars  at  $2  per  scholar  for  seventy  days,  and  as  much 
more  as  he  can  make  at  the  same  price  per  scholar;  to  pay  him  at  the  expiration  of 
his  term  what  public  money  we  have  in  hand  (the  balance  he  is  to  collect  of  his 
employers) ;  and  also  to  give  him  the  privilege  of  taking  in  what  classical  scholars 
he  can  get,  provided  he  does  not  take  up  with  them  more  than  their  due  proportion 
of  tiuie. 

Under  this  administration  various  new  measures  were  introduced 
and  experiments  tried.  To  obviate  the  noise,  the  floor  was  covered  to 
the  depth  of  2  or  3  inches  with  sawdust.  Parents  were  visited  and 
induced  to  visit  the  school  from  time  to  time.  Frames  were  placed 
upon  the  walls,  with  pegs,  one  for  each  scholar,  and  holes  arranged 
vertically  for  the  pegs,  so  that  the  standing  of  the  pupil  represented  by 
each  peg  was  proclaimed  by  its  ])Ositiou.  Fifteen  minutes  at  the  close 
of  the  daily  session  was  devoted  to  reading  selections  from  "The  Eollo 
Books"  and  to  conversation  upon  the  topics  treated  therein.  A  part 
of  the  playground  was  used  for  flower  beds,  and  the  privilege  of  own- 
ing and  cultivating  them  was  granted  to  pupils  whose  deportment 
deserved  the  favor. 

Physical  geography  was  taught  from  maps  made  on  the  ball  ground 
with  water  and  a  stick.  Outline  maps  were  introduced  into  the  build- 
ing. Employers  were  induced  to  pay  25  cents  a  j^ear  for  a  monthly 
paper  containing  translations  from  L'Aime  Martin  and  other  essays  on 
education.  Still  newer  and  better  methods  were  introduced  by  the 
teachers  next  succeeding.  For  the  information  of  the  employers,  the 
town  superintendent  wrote  in  the  new  record  book,  September  24, 1852: 

The  term  now  about  to  close  this  day,  Mr.  Henry  P.  Thompson  reports  Go  scholars 
on  his  list,  with  an  average  of  45.  Fifty  read,  13  in  primers,  17  study  grammar,  26 
study  geography,  38  write,  5  in  algebra,  2  in  surveying,  1  in  geometry,  46  in  arith- 
metic. 

Your  school  at  this  time,  I  have  no  hesitation  iu  saying,  is  the  best  in  Branchburg 
township;  and  I  can  not  but  do  justice  to  your  teacher  ill  saj'ing  that  it  is  the  best 
conducted  school  I  have  ever  been  in.     Your  teacher  has  always  manifested  the 


144  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

greatest  interest  for  it.     As  lie  is  about  to  leave  us  now,  and  in  all  probability  we 

will  not  be  likely  to  employ  him  again,  I  think  he  leaves  the  school  with  praise  from 

every  child  and  employer  in  the  district, 

George  W.  Yroom, 

Superintendent  of  Branehhurij . 

This  teacher's  popularity  was  so  great  that  his  wages  were  increased 
from  $1  to  81.25  a  day.  He  was  succeeded  by  other  members  ot  tlie 
same  family,  but  uo  one  of  them  ever  won  so  much  favor  as  he.' 

In  1SG7  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  part  of  this  school  district, 
with  others  from  the  adjoining  part  of  Hunterdon  County,  sent  to  the 
county  superintendents  a  petition  in  which  they  said  that  they — 

having  a  desire  to  promote  the  cause  of  learning  and  good  morals,  have  it  in  con- 
tem])lation  to  build  a  new  schoolhouse  in  the  township  of  Branchburg,  near  the 
crossing  of  the  road  leading  from  White  House  Station  to  Van  Derveer's  mills  and 
the  road  leading  from  Readiugton  to  North  Branch  Station,  and  do  hereby  request 
to  be  formed  into  a  new  school  district. 

The  request  was  granted.  The  schoolhouse  was  built,  and  was  called 
"The  Harlan  School,"  in  memory  of  Harlan  Page,  whose  memoir  had 
been  read  with  interest.  The  next  year  a  visitor  wrote  in  a  magazine 
published  in  ZSTew  York  City: 

It  is  a  small  country  schoolhouse,  used  also  on  Sunday  afternoons  for  the  Sunday 
school  and  occasionally  for  the  pastor's  monthly  lecture  and  on  Wednesday  evenings 
for  the  neighborhood  prayer  ineeting.  It  is  as  neat  a  building  outside  as  one  couhl 
wish  to  see.  The  belfry  contains  a  bell,  which,  besides  the  ordinary  use  for  school 
purposes,  is  rung  at  half  past  11  for  the  farmers  to  leave  their  work  and  prepare  for 
the  noonday  meal.  The  hall  is  provided  with  a  clothes  room  at  each  end,  one  for 
the  boj'S  and  the  other  for  the  girls,  who  enter  the  schoolroom  by  separate  doors. 
The  ceiling  is  high  and  the  ventilation  thorough.  The  seats  are  marvels  of  comfort 
as  well  as  of  ingenuity.  The  desks  are  hung  on  hinges  and  can  be  let  down  when 
not  needed,  so  as  to  afford  all  the  facility  of  an  ordinary  lecture  room.  The  seats 
turn  up,  so  as  to  allow  easy  ogress;  moreover,  they  are  double,  and  iu  them  the  books 
are  safely  stored.  Black  wall  exists  on  three  sides  of  the  room,  and  the  teacher  at 
her  desk  can,  if  she  chooses,  have  all  her  pupils  working  on  it  at  once,  thus  econo- 
mizing time  wondrously.  Then  there  is  a  Sunday-school  library  and  a  district-school 
library,  each  in  a  neat  case,  with  numerical  frames,  blocks,  measures,  maps,  globes, 
and  in  short  whatever  can  aid  the  work  of  instruction  and  education.     Nor  must  I 

1  Henry  P.  Thompson  was  born  in  Readington,  N.  J.,  November  30,  1831.  After 
graduating  from  the  college  and  the  Theological  Seminary  in  New  Brunswick  he 
was  pastor  at  Peapack  from  1857  to  1873.  He  was  the  friend  and  counselor  of  his 
people.  He  wrote  their  deeds  and  wills  and  adviscsd  with  reference  to  things  of  this 
life  as  well  as  those  of  the  life  to  come.  He  prepared  their  sous  for  college  and 
shaped  jiopular  instruction  among  them,  until  a  spinal  affection  caused  his  return 
to  the  home  of  his  father,  on  the  border  of  Hunterdon  and  Somerset  counties,  where 
he  died  October  22.  1891.  Here  he  was  the  best  farmer  in  tbc  neighborhood,  shar- 
ing the  results  of  his  study  and  experience  with  those  around  him.  He  conducted 
scientific  experiments  for  the  New  .Jersey  Agricultural  College  and  wrote  hundreds 
of  articles  upon  kindred  topics  for  the  local  press.  He  also  jnepared  an  agricultural 
catechism  and  a  catechism  upon  morals  for  the  use  of  pupils  iu  the  public  schools. 
Ho  issued  a  volume  of  "Incidents  of  Christian  Work,"  which  met  with  a  ready  sale. 
His  sermons  on  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Van  Lieu 
were  widely  circulated.  He  published  also  local  histories  of  the  churches  of  Pea- 
pack,  Bedminster,  and  Readington.     (Obituary  notice.) 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  145 

neglect  to  mention  the  playground,  witli  the  facilities  for  tbe  proper  physical  exer- 
cise in  which  chiklren  so  much  delight.  I  will  not  stop  to  sjieak  of  the  excellence 
of  the  schoolboolis,  nor  of  the  sweet  persuasive  cheerfulness  of  the  teacher,  with  her 
delightful  songs  and  illustrations  and  the  Christian  kindness  with  which  she  seems 
to  care  for  these  little  ones.' 

This  school  is  still  doing  its  work,  but  with  less  effectiveness  than 
formerly.  Small  laudholdings  have  given  place  to  larger  ones,  and  the 
population  is  diminishing.  It  gravitates  toward  the  towns  and  villages 
along  the  railroad.  The  district- school  system  was  abolished  not  a  whit 
too  soon. 

There  is  a  record  of  a  school  at  Bouudbrook  from  the  year  1724.  In 
1792  Michael  Field  left  by  will  £500  for  the  supjjort  of  a  frae  school 
there.  An  academy  building  was  erected  in  1800^  Isaac  Toucey,  after- 
wards Secretary  of  the  Navy,  was  one  of  the  teachers. 

In  1778  the  grammar  school  of  Queen's  College  was  atRaritau,  now 
Somerville. 

July  4,  1801,  after  the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  American 
independence  in  that  village,  several  gentlemen  ]>resent  resolved  to 
found  a  classical  school  there,  and  the  Somerville  Academy  was  soon 
after  established.  The  first  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  was  the 
scholarly  pastor  of  the  church  at  Readiugton,  IJev.  Peter  Studdiford. 
In  1812  he  was  appointed  also  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America.^ 

The  first  principal  of  the  academy  was  an  Irishman  named  Lucas 
George.  His  successors  were  Jacob  Kirkpatrick,  W.  C.  Morris,  Stephen 
Boyer,  Isaac  N.  Wyckofi",  John  Cornell,  Peter  O.  Studdiford,  John  Walsh, 
William  I.  Thompson,  and  others.  Most  of  these  were  recent  graduates 
from  college  on  tbeir  way  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

The  last  principal  of  this  Somerville  Classical  Academy  was  John  B. 
Thompson,  who  was  api)ointed  in  1851,  with  the  title  of  rector,  and 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  in  June  of  that  year.  The  circular 
issued  by  the  trustees  contained  recommendations  of  the  young  rector 
from  the  president  and  professors  of  Rutgers  College.  The  trustees 
were  Abraham  Messier,  Thomas  A.  Plartwell,  Thomas  Talmage,  William 
J.  Hedges,  and  William  B.  Gaston.     They  say: 

The  trustees  have  engaged  a  gentleman  of  comiietent  literary  attainments  and  of 
known  experience  as  the  head  of  this  institution,  and  can  therefore  confidently 
assure  the  public  that  those  who  may  jiatronize  it  will  be  sure  to  have  their  sons 
properly  educated.  The  opportunities  of  frequent  communication  with  all  parts  of 
the  country,  and  the  freedom  from  moral  and  physical  malaria,  for  which  Somerville 
is  distinguished,  render  it  a  desiralile  place  of  education. 

The  academic  year  is  divided  into  three  sessions,  the  first,  or  fall  session,  com- 
mencing on  the  3d  of  September  and  ending  on  the  23d  of  December ;  the  second,  or 

'  Good  News  for  November,  1868. 

-  Mr.-  Studdiford  was  born  in  New  York  City,  and  was  a  graduate  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege.    He  was  pastor  at  Keadington  from  1787  till  his  death,  November  30,  1826.     It 
is  probable  that  the  articles  of  incorporation  of  the  Holland  Brook  School  and  of  the 
Centre  School,  before  mentioned,  were  drawn  by  him. 
20687  No.  23 10 


146  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

winter  session,  commencing  on  tlie  3d  of  January  and  ending  on  the  23d  of  April; 
and  the  third,  or  spring  session,  comruencing  on  the  3d  of  May  and  ending  on  the 
23d  of  July. 

Terms:  From  $24  to  $32  per  annum,  according  to  studies  i)ursued,  and  in  that 
ratio  for  a  shorter  time.  No  pupil  will  he  received  for  less  than  half  a  term.  Board 
may  be  obtained  at  reasonable  rates ;  and,  when  parents  desire  it,  their  sons  can  be 
placed  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  principal. 

For  many  years  Dr.  Messier  was  president  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Somerville  Academy,  as  well  as  one  of  the  board  of  examiners  of 
the  public  schools  of  the  county.  On  his  invitation  1  went  thither  (by 
consent  of  the  faculty)  a  month  before  1  had  graduated  from  college, 
and  took  charge  of  the  ''Classical  Academy,"  though  the  academy 
building  was  at  that  time  occupied  by  the  public  school.  A  year  later, 
when  the  summer  vacation  came  for  the  public  school,  and  the  hired 
room  in  which  the  Classical  Academy  was  held  was  wanted  for  some 
other  purpose,  the  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  incontinently 
burst  open  the  locked  door  of  the  academy  building  and  installed  the 
Classical  Academy  within  the  sacred  precincts,  a  position  which  it 
maintained  without  dispute  until  the  time  for  the  opening  of  the  public 
school  in  the  fall.  Then  the  president  of  the  board  of  public  school 
trustees  imitated  the  heroic  example  displayed  by  the  president  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  Classical  Academy,  spoiled  the  newlock  as  effect- 
ually as  the  old  one  had  been  spoiled  before,  and  reinstated  the  teachers 
of  the  public  schools.  The  difficulty  was  finally  solved  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  all  concerned  by  nuiking  the  rector  of  the  Classical  Academy 
also  the  principal  of  the  public  school.  As  a  memento  of  those  days,  I 
still  have  in  my  possession  the  unprecedently  hig-h  armchair  which 
had  been  the  throne  of  the  x)rincipal  of  the  academy  from  the  begin- 
ning, the  only  existing  relic,  I  believe,  of  that  famous  institution. 
Ultimately,  in  accordance  with  a  special  act  of  the  legislature,  the 
academy  building  was  sold  and  the  proceeds  were  divided  among  the 
heirs  of  the  original  stockholders.' 

'  In  the  following  statement.  Mr.  Daniel  S.  Rockafellow  tells  what  he  knows  of 
schools  in  Somerville : 

"I  can  not  give  dates  farther  back  than  the  year  1849.  It  was  in  the  spring  of 
that  year  when  I  first  attended  school  in  a  room  adjoining  Mrs.  Otis's  building.  It 
was  called  the  band  room,  it  being  occupied  by  the  Somerville  brass  band.  The 
teacher  was  Miss  Owen.  It  was  a  private  school,  and  as  the  patronage  was  small 
Miss  Owen  taught  only  one  term,  and  then  left  the  village.  In  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  1  entered  the  school  in  the  old  academy  building,  and  had  for  teachers  ^Ir.  and 
Mrs.  William  II.  Jellitl'e.  Tiiey  occupied  the  upper  Hour  of  the  building.  Mrs.  Jel- 
liffe  acted  as  assistant  and  taught  the  smaller  boys  and  girls.  The  latter  did  not 
number  many,  as  the  lower  lloor  was  used  for  school  purposes  also,  and  that  was 
composed  chiefly  of  girls.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miles  U.  Upson  were  the  teachers  for  several 
years.  They  and  Mr.  .kdlifife  left  in  1851,  and  were  followed  by  J.  B.  Thompson, 
Wiltsie,  M  alker,  and  G.  C.  Woolard,  resi)ectively. 

"  George  W.  Burr  was  the  next  teacher,  and  an  excellent  one  he  was.  He  made 
every  l)oy  learn  the  multiplication  table  from  two  times  one  tip  to  twenty-one  times 
twenty-one.  He  was  followed  by  Oliver  A.  Kibbe.  He  was  a  pleasant  teacher, 
never  severe,  and  fhe  boys  liked  him,  and  during  the  summer  at  the  recess  in  the 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  147 

One  of  the  most  famous  schools  in  Xew  Jersey  about  the  middle  of 
the  century  was  the  female  seminary  of  Madame  Cooke,  at  Bloomfield. 
It  was  for  northern  New  Jersey  what  the  school  of  Emma  Willard  at 
Troy  was  for  eastern  Kew  York.  Harriet  B.  Cooke  was  born  at  Xew 
London,  Conn.,  May  23,  1785,  and  died  at  her  son's  residence,  adjacent 
to  the  seminary  in  Bloomfield,  in  1861.  After  her  marriage  she  taught 
in  the  State  of  Vermont  at  Vergennes,  Middlebury,  and  Woodstock. 
She  taught  also  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  before  settling  at  Bloomfield  in  1S3G. 
She  was  a  woman  of  powerful  and  penetrating  mind,  with  great  decision 
of  character,  her  quick  insight,  profound  sympathy,  and  deep  piety 
swayed  teachers,  scholars,  and  families.  Her  son,  Robert  L.  Cooke, 
was  associated  with  her  in  the  management  of  this  institution,  and 
continued  it  for  four  years  after  her  withdrawal  in  1854.  This  seminary 
was  the  center  of  a  jjowerful  intellectual  and  religious  influence.  Its 
rooms  were  filled  with  pupils  from  abroad,  and  the  best  young  ladies 
of  the  village  enjoyed  its  advantages  also.  Its  influence  is  still  felt. 
From  it  2,000  young  ladies  went  out  to  give  culture  and  character  to 
the  communities  in  which  their'lots  were  cast.^ 

afternoon  the  boys  would  'hookey'  to  Peters  Brook,  east  of  the  Grove  Street  Bridge, 
and  nothing  was  said  about  the  matter  the  next  morning !  He,  as  well  as  his  ])upil8, 
were  anxious  to  get  into  the  new  school  building. 

"Mr.  Kibbe  was  the  iirst  teacher  who  occupied  the  public-school  building  on  High 
street.  It  was  in  September,  1856.  From  his  diary  is  copied  the  following:  'Mon- 
day evening,  September  22,  1856.  The  long-looked-for  day  has  at  length  arrived. 
We  opened  school  in  the  new  building  this  morning,  with  over  40  boys,  2  iiew  pupils. 
The  Eev.  G.  P.  Nice  spent  the  morning  with  us.  The  girls'  department  takes  the 
second  lloor,  with  over  60  pupils,  one-fourth  of  them  little  boys.'  He  had  for  his 
assistant,  Miss  Mary  Whiteuack,  of  Somerville. 

"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  the  names  of  the  boys  who  entered  the  new  build- 
ing on  the  above  date,  but  the  school  register  of  July  15,  1856,  contains  the  names 
of  pupils  attending  Mr.  Kibbe's  school  in  the  'Old  Academy,'  and  there  is  no  doubt 
but  what  they  are  the  same  who  entered  the  new  building  in  Seiitember. 

"Mr.  Kibbe  remained  until  the  sjiring  of  1857.  At  this  time  a  new  board  of 
trustees,  composed  of  George  H.  Brown,  Joshua  Doughty,  and  James  M.  Krueseu  were 
elected.  'Who  is  to  be  the  next  teacher  f  was  asked.  Professor  Phelps,  of  the  State 
Normal  School  of  Trenton,  was  appealed  to.  He  visited  Somerville  with  the  senior 
class  of  that  institution,  and  his  system  of  instruction  Avas  exemplified  before  a 
large  audience  at  the  court-house.  E.  R.Webb  was  secured  as  principal  and  had 
for  his  assistants  Misses  Suowden,  Jackson,  and  Cox.  In  the  spring  of  1858  Mervin 
Hollister  came.  He  was  principal  until  the  fall  of  1859.  Every  pupil  loved  him. 
He  knew  his  business  and  attended  to  the  same.  He  had  for  assistants  Mr.  Daniel 
McCarty,  Misses  Olmstead  and  Jackson.  He  was  followed  by  E.  G.  Upson  who 
remained  principal  one  year,  and  afterwards  became  owner  of  the  Somerset  County 
News.  I  am  iTuable  to  give,  in  rotation,  the  names  of  the  teachers  that  followed,  but 
I  print  the  following  names  which  will  answer  all  intents  and  purposes :  Elston, 
Cone,  Kice,  Badger,  Simmons,  Simpson,  Clark,  Nichols,  Stafford,  Thompson,  Chamber- 
lin,  and  Spencer.  Several  of  the  above  were  here  only  one  term.  They  were  fol- 
lowed by  Davidson,  Rarick,  Ayers,  and  Haynes  (who  died  in  1897)." 

'She  wrote  late  in  life  "Memories  of  My  Life-work."  (Shaw's  History  of  Essex 
and  Hudson  Counties,  p.  868,  and  letter  from  the  Rev.  David  Cole,  D.  D.,  of  Yonkers, 
N.  Y.). 


148  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

A  teacher  whose  influence,  though  less  extensive,  was  perhaps  even 
more  intensive,  was  Bethuue  Dunkin,  of  Metuchen.  He  taught  the 
district  school  at  "The  Oak  Tree,"  until  it  was  said  that  he  had  "  worn 
out  three  schoolhouses."  Certainly  he  taught  in  three  successive 
schoolhouses  on  the  same  site. 

Born  in  Boston  June  6, 1786,  while  a  clerk  in  counting-houses  in  Phil- 
adelphia, New  York,  Savannah,  and  Charleston  he  added  to  a  good 
education  an  excellent  business  training.  The  house  he  served  sent 
him  to  India,  and  after  mercantile  employment  there  for  a  year  he 
returned  to  find  his  father  dead,  his  employer  bankrupt,  and  himself 
without  funds.  Of  this  crisis,  many  years  after,  he  wrote  to  a  friend: 
"But  I  did  not  despair.  The  world  was  all  before  me.  I  had  all  my 
limbs  in  good  order,  and  I  left  Jersey  City  in  good  heart  with  2  shil- 
lings and  3  pence  in  my  pocket." '  This  was  in  1816.  He  traveled  but 
25  miles  before  he  found  his  place,  a  place  which  he  filled  for  forty-five 
years. 

Year  after  year,  until  the  infirmities  of  a  prolonged  old  age  obliged  him  to  desist, 
he  faithfully  performed  his  duties  in  such  manner  as  to  win  the  deep  love  of  his 
numerous  pupils,  and  the  confidence  and  regard  of  their  parents  and  friends. 

As  his  pupils  grew  up,  entered  upon  active  life,  and  reared  families  of  their  own, 
the  same  teacher  who  had  trained  them  was  the  instructor  of  their  children,  welcom- 
ing to  his  school  again  those  of  similar  names,  and,  seeing,  as  it  were,  the  father  and 
mother  coming  hack  to  sit  in  the  old  seats  and  learn  the  old  lessons.  Thus  Mr. 
Dnnkin  taught  amid  the  same  scenes,  parents,  children,  and  grandchildren.  He 
loved  these  children,  and  secured  their  love  in  return. 

Dwelling  year  after  year  among  these  families,  whose  veneration  and  regard  for 
him  constantly  increased,  the  weddings  and  social  gatherings  of  the  entire  region 
were  not  considered  satisfactory  unless  he  was  present.  His  gentle  manners  and 
kindly  feelings  impressed  themselves  upon  all  under  his  charge. 

Fond  of  the  best  books  and  surrounding  himself  with  as  many  of  them  as  his 
means  allowed,  he  was  always  loaning  them  to  his  friends;  making  thus  in  his 
neighborhood  a  circulating  library  as  it  were  of  his  own  stock,  and  daily  infusing 
a  taste  for  literature  into  the  peo]de  around.  Besides  his  love  for  books  he  had  a 
strong  passion  for  flowers.  His  schoolroom  was  coDstautly  adorned  by  numerous 
plants,  whose  progress  was  watched  witli  solicitude  by  his  scholars;  and  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  family  where  his  home  was  for  years  he  enjoyed  ample  opportunity  to 
cultivate  the  beautiful  flowers  tliat  he  admired  so  much,  A  bomiuet  of  his  favorites 
was  always  forthcoming  as  a  bridal  present  or  a  souvenir  of  regard  at  the  time 
when  such  a  gift  was  most  aj^propriate. 

Mr.  Dunkin  for  many  years  kept  a  minute  record  of  the  personal  history  of  his 
pupils,  and,  although  they  were  scattered  over  the  whole  country,  he  was  constant 
in  corresponding  with  many  of  them,  and  always  gave  them  timely  and  profitable 
advice. 

His  last  days  were  spent  with  his  sister,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Adams,  of  Waltham,  Mass., 
where  he  enjoyed  all  the  attention  and  care  that  attached  and  endeared  friends  can 
render  to  one  in  declining  years. - 

'Dr.  Ezra  M.  Hunt,  from  whose  (already  rare)  "Metuchen  and  her  history  "  (p.  19) 
I  have  derived  information  to  supplement  my  personal  knowledge  of  this  remarkable 
man. 

-  Obituary  in  New  Brunswick  Freedoniau. 


TYPICAL    SCHOOLS.  149 

His  brother  was  the  chief  justice  of  South  Carolina,  and  all  life  long 
he  "was  in  the  habit  of  making  alternate  occasional  visits  to  his  relatives 
and  friends  in  the  North  and  in  the  South. ^ 

The  introduction  of  newer  and  better  school-books,  which  began 
about  1840,  made  a  great  change  in  the  schools.  The  small  amount  of 
reading  matter  in  Comly's  Spelling  Book  was  much  more  entertaining 
than  that  in  Webster's  Elementary,  where  it  was  composed  of  short 

1  The  interest  lie  took  in  those  whom  he  had  taught,  and  his  delicacy  of  suggestion, 
are  illustrated  by  tlie  subjoined  poem,  directed  to  one  of  them: 

fanxie's  failings. 
Fannie,  you've  had  enough  of  "sighs," 

And  "tears"  enough — your  leaves  to  T)lot — 
And  "rosy  lips"  and  "sparkling  eyes," 
"Remember"  and  "forget  mo  not!  " 
Now  what  if  I 
A  change  should  try 
And  tell  you  what  no  youth  Avould  dare  to, 
That  spite  of  "air," 
And  "teeth"  and  "hair," 
You  still  have  faults  "that  flesh  is  heir  to?" 

They  say  that  sometimes  Fannie  flirts ; 

Gives  smiles  to  all,  but  love  to  no  one ; 
On  fops  her  energies  exerts, 

And  quizzes  like  a  "very  woman." 

And  is  it  so? 

O  yes ;  but  know 
Only  on  fools  she  wastes  her  folly. 

The  one  most  dear 

Has  nought  to  fear; 
Her  faith  to  him  is  pure  and  holy. 

They  say  that,  distant,  cold,  and  shy, 

Fannie  will  sometimes  meet  her  friends; 
Repel  warm  friendship's  melting  eye. 
And  feign  reserve  for  trifling  ends. 

And  is  it  so? 

O  yes;  but  know 
Deeji  in  her  bosom's  inmost  core 

Sad  thoughts  may  lie. 

Fond  liopes  m.iy  die, 
And  fears  may  wake  to  "sleep  no  more." 

They  say  that,  ol)stiuate  and  stern, 
She  still  persists  in  her  opinion  ; 
Thinks  she  lias  nothing  more  to  learn, 
And  over  all  exerts  dominion. 
And  is  it  so? 
O  yes;  but  know 
So  deep  her  thought — so  just  her  plan  is — 
That  spite  of  pride 
And  aught  beside. 
We  all  must  yield  to  Fannie's  fancies. 
Oak  Tree,  January  9,  1S.'>8.  B.  D. 


150  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

sentences,  the  only  one  tliat  I  remember  being  ''Cotton  velvet  is  very- 
soft  to  tbe  feel.''  Instead  of  tbe  New  Testament  and  Murray's  English 
Eeader,  the  much  simpler  Sequel  to  the  English  Eeader  began  to  be 
used.  After  that  came  the  entirely  different  series  of  reading  books  by 
Lyman  Cobb  and  his  successors.  Warren  Colburn's  Intellectual 
Arithmetic  was  issued  in  1S21,  but  was  scarcely  known  in  New  Jersey 
till  twenty  years  later,  when  those  who  had  studied  it  in  New  England 
became  teachers  there.  Frederic  Emerson's  North  American  Arith- 
metic was  issued  in  181*1,  but  this,  too,  was  slow  in  making  its  way 
southward  from  Boston.  However,  when  these  two  books  did  become 
known  they  well-nigh  superseded  all  other  treatises  on  arithmetic.  In 
them  the  technical  machine  method  which  liad  been  in  existence  from 
time  immemorial  was  abandoned.  The  pupil  was  regarded  as  a  being 
capable  of  thought,  and  the  exercises  were  such  as  to  develop  the 
thinking  faculty.  And  these  effects  soon  manifested  themselves  in 
other  studies  also.  A  new  era  had  dawned.  But  the  dawn  was  grad- 
ual. Even  "analysis"  was  sometimes  taught  by  rote,  and  where 
this  was  not  literally  true  the  mode  of  teaching  was  sometimes  very 
technical. 

A  young  lady,  fresh  from  the  normal  school,  was  very  anxious  to  add 
"analysis"  to  the  curriculum  of  the  district  school  in  which  she  was 
to  teach.  Analysis  was  "so  beautiful,"  so  "good  for  the  mind,"  she 
said.  At  last  some  one  ventured  to  inquire  "  What  kind  of  analysis?" 
"Why,  analysis,"  was  the  glib  rei^ly;  "this  way:" 

Question.  How  many  units  are  there  in  five  halves? 

Solution.  How  many  units  are  there  in  five  halves?  In  one  unit  there  are  two 
halves.  Now  since  there  are  two  halves  in  one  unit,  in  five  halves  there  are  as 
many  units  as  two  halves  are  contained  in  five  halves,  which  is  two  times,  and  one- 
half  remains.     Therefore,  in  five  halves  there  are  two  units  and  one-half.     Q.  E.  D. 

On  one  occasion  a  teacher  from  another  State  took  pains  to  inform  a 
visitor  that,  before  his  advent,  even  the  older  pupils  in  the  school  did 
not  know  that  the  money  called  "mills"  is  only  a  creature  of  the 
human  imagination  and  has  no  real  objective  existence.  He  was  proud 
of  the  concert  recitations  which  he  had  introduced,  and  was  urgent 
that  the  visitor  should  make  inquiries  to  test  the  acquirements  of  a 
class  that  had  just  been  reciting  the  "table"  called  "Federal  money." 
Thus  urged,  the  visitor  inquired  of  the  children,  who  answered  in  con- 
cert and  with  great  volubility : 

"Of  what  kind  of  metal  are  eagles  made ?"     "Gold." 

"And  dollars ?"     " Silver." 

"And  dimes?"     "Silver." 

"And  cents?"    "Copper." 

"And  mills?"     "Maginary." 

And  they  really  thought  so ! 


COMMON  SCHOOLS.  151 

III.  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

Tbomiis  Jeftersou's  Xotes  on  the  State  of  Virginia,  first  published  in 
this  country  in  1787,  was  reprinted  at  Trenton  in  1803.  The  list  of 
subscribers  contains  the  names  of  five  hundred  of  the  most  intiuential 
people  in  the  State,  some  of  them  taking  two,  three,  six,  and  even  twelve 
copies  for  distribution.  This  work  was  so  far  in  advance  of  the  age 
that  we  are  only  just  coming  to  certain  conclusions  which  Jefferson 
had  reached  at  that  early  day.  He  says  "the  influence  over  govern- 
ment must  be  shared  by  all  the  people.  If  every  individual  which 
composes  their  mass  participates  of  the  ultimate  authority,  the  govern- 
ment will  be  safe.'''  This  is  on  the  assumption  tliat  the  whole  people 
are  properly  educated.  To  this  end  he  proposes  a  system  of  free  schools 
of  three  grades.  His  arguments  could  not  otherwise  than  make  an 
impression  upon  thoughtful  men  of  all  parties. 

Among  these  was  James  Parker,  of  Perth  Amboy.  He  was  then  in 
the  prime  of  his  youthful  vigor,  having  been  born  March  3,  1776,  and 
though  a  Federalist  was  a  warm  friend  of  popular  as  well  as  of  the 
higher  education.  It  Avas  he  who  induced  the  other  heirs  of  the  late 
James  Parker  to  join  with  him  to  give  to  Eutgers  College,  at  New 
Brunswick,  the  land  on  which  its  buildings  stand,  and  he  was  for  many 
years  one  of  its  trustees.  At  a  later  period  he  was  also  for  four  years 
a  trustee  of  the  college  at  Princeton,  He  represented  Middlesex 
County  in  the  house  of  assembly  for  eleven  of  the  twelve  years  between 
180G  and  1810,  and  was  the  author  of  several  of  the  most  important 
laws  passed  during  that  period. 

Of  the  measures  ■which  originated  with  Mr.  Parker,  the  earliest  in  poiut  of  time 
and  the  most  important  and  lasting  in  its  results  was  the  establisbmeut  of  a  fund 
for  the  support  of  free  schools.  There  were  prejudices  to  overcome  and  the  plea  of 
poverty  to  encounter.  One  of  these  attempts  was  made  in  1809;  but  while  the 
matter  was  under  discussion  in  the  house  of  assembly,  one  of  the  members  of  that 
body,  more  noted  for  his  zeal  than  his  discretion,  adduced  the  example  of  Connect- 
icut, and  pointed  to  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  her  people  as  among  the 
results  of  her  common  schools;  whereupon  a  gentleman  from  the  county  of  Sussex 
observed  that  in  his  part  of  the  country  where\er  a  Connecticut  man  made  his 
appearance  everyone  instinctively  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  for  fear  it  might  be 
picked,  and  that  if  such  was  the  result  of  common  schools,  New  Jersey  was  better 
without  them.  This  [allusion  to  Ransfield  Rogers]  (p.  120)  of  course  "brought 
down  the  house,''  and  ert'ectually  defeated  the  measure  proposed. 

In  1811  tlie  legislature  chartered  a  number  of  State  banks,  and  reserved  to  the 
State  the  right  to  snbscrilie  to  one-half  of  their  capital  stock.  In  1812  it  was  deter- 
mined that  this  right  of  subscription  on  the  part  of  the  State  should  be  sold,  and, 
owing  mainly  to  the  successful  efforts  of  ^Ir.  Parker  to  prevent  it  from  being  sacri- 
ficed, a  very  considerable  sum  of  money  was  realized  from  the  sale.  The  treasury 
being  thus  replenished  and  the  plea  of  poverty  being  no  longer  available,  Mr. 
Parker  thought  the  time  had  come  when  something  should  be  done  for  the  cause  of 
education.  On  the  1st  of  November,  1813,  he  introduced  a  resolution  appropriating 
$50,000  toward  a  fund  for  the  support  of  free  schools.  It  did  not  meet  with  much 
favor,  however.  It  was  first  postponed  to  an  adjourned  session  and  then  referred  to  a 
committee,  of  which  he  was  not  made  the  chairman ;  and  although  a  report  was  made 


152  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

recommending  some  plan  for  tlie  establishment  of  free  schools,  yet  nothing  eftectual 
was  (lone,  and.  the  money,  -which  seemed  to  have  been  so  providentially  provided  for 
this  pnrpose,  was  paid  to  the  General  Government  in  order  to  secure  the  reduction 
guaranteed  to  every  State  that  i>aid  in  advance  its  quota  of  the  direct  tax  authorized 
by  an  act  of  Congress  in  1814. 

But,  not  disheartened  by  this  failure,  Mr.  Parker,  in  the  session  of  1816-17,  revived 
the  subject  in  which  he  felt  so  deep  an  interest,  and  on  the  Ist  of  February,  1817, 
introduced  a  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the 
expediency  of  creatiug  a  fund  for  the  support  of  free  schools  in  this  State.  The 
resolution  was  adopted,  and  a  committee  appointed,  of  which  he  was  chairman. 
Their  action  was  prompt  and  decided.  On  the  5th  of  February  they  reported  a  bill 
entitled  "An  act  to  create  a  fund  for  the  support  of  free  schools."  It  passed  the 
assembly  on  the  11th  and  the  council  on  the  following  day;  and  thus  the  foundation 
of  the  school  fund  in  New  Jersey  was  laid.'  When  the  history  of  the  great  move- 
ment on  behalf  of  education  in  our  State  comes  to  be  written,  the  lirst  and  the 
highest  place  in  it  will  be  assigned  to  James  Parker.  The  school  fund,  as  wo  have 
seen,  was  his  creation,  and  he  watched  over  it  with  i^aternal  regard.  To  guard 
against  the  iiossiliility  of  its  being  ever  diverted  from  the  great  object  to  which  it 
was  consecrated,  it  was  provided,  at  his  instance,  that  it  should  "not  be  conii)etent 
for  the  legislature  to  Ijorrow,  appropriate,  or  use  the  said  fund,  or  any  part  thereof, 
for  any  other  purpose,  under  any  pretence  whatever.^ 

The  governor  of  the  State,  the  president  of  the  council,  the  speaker 
of  the  house  of  assembly,  the  secretary  of  state,  and  the  attorney- 
general  of  the  State  were  put  in  charge  of  the  school  fund,  ex  officio, 
under  the  title  of  "The  trustees  for  the  support  of  free  schools,"  though 
it  was  many  years  before  the  schools  really  became  "  free."  However, 
with  the  hope  that  was  finally  realized  in  1871,  they  continued  to  act 
in  this  capacity  until  they  were  united  with  the  board  of  trustee^  and 
the  treasurer  of  the  normal  school  by  the  act  of  ISGG  to  form  the  State 
board  of  education,  to  whose  care  the  educational  affairs  of  the  State 
were  then  committed. ' 


•  "  By  this  act  the  State  treasurer  was  directed  to  invest  the  sum  of  $15,000  in  United 
States  bonds,  bearing  6  per  cent  interest,  as  a  permanent  school  fund.  (Manuscript 
History  of  Schools  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  by  Edward  S.  Ellis.) 

"Address  of  Hon.  Richard  S.  Field  before  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society, 
January  21,  1869.  The  ju-ovision  stated  was  inserted  in  the  constitution  of  the 
State  adopted  in  1844.  Of  that  constitutional  convention  Mr.  Field  was  a  member, 
and  he  himself  reported  the  resolution  on  the  14th  day  of  June.  "And  on  the  18th 
day  of  June  he  was  one  of  the  small  number  of  eight  members  to  vote  in  favor  of  an 
article  proposed  by  Mr.  Peter  I.  Clark,  that  no  person  born  after  the  ado])tion  of  the 
constitution  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  under  the  same  unless  he  can  read  the  English 
language,  except  in  cases  of  physical  disaldlity."  (Proceedings  of  the  N.  J.  Histor- 
ical Society  for  1871,  p.  117.)     Peter  I.  Clark  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Flemiugton. 

^  A  resume  of  the  legislation  relative  to  educational  interests  in  New  Jersey,  down 
to  the  year  1875,  by  the  late  Alexander  H.  Freeman,  of  Orange,  may  be  found  in 
William  11.  Shaw's  History  of  Essex  and  Hudson  Counties;  and  an  exhaustive 
statement  of  the  educational  statistics  of  New  .lersey  from  18S0  to  1890  is  jjre- 
sented  in  the  series  of  28  charts  appended  to  the  report  of  the  special  committee  on 
educational  exhibit  at  Chicago  in  1892.  At  the  close  of  the  Columbian  Exposition 
this  exhibit  was  removed  to  the  statehouse  at  Trenton,  where  it  is  still  under  the 
charge  of  ]\Ir.  S.  R.  Morse,  a  member  of  the  State  board  of  education,  and  is  quite 
worthy  of  a  visit  by  all  interested  in  the  education  of  youth. 


COMMON   SCHOOLS.  153 

Frequent  and  important  additions  liave  been  made  to  the  school  fund 
from  the  time  of  its  establishment  until  now.  Perhaps  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all  these  was  that  made  by  the  act  of  April  G,  1871,  appropri- 
ating to  free  schools  the  entire  proceeds  of  leases,  grants,  and  sales  of 
the  riparian  lands  of  the  State.  The  passage  of  this  law  was  chiefly  due 
to  the  Hon,  Nathaniel  Niles,  who  was  then  a  member  of  the  house  of 
assembly.  He  informs  me  (in  responvse  to  my  request)  that  from  this 
sonrce  about  $3,000,000  were  received  for  schools  before  the  law  was 
repealed  by  the  act  of  March  19,  1800,  which  declared  that  all  riparian 
moneys  should  go  into  the  general  fund  for  State  expenses.  But  this 
repealer  was  itself  repealed  by  the  act  of  April  24, 1804,  which  decreed 
that  "all  the  lands  under  water  belonging  to  this  State  be,  and  the 
same  hereby  are,  irrevocably  appropriated  for  the  support  of  free  schools 
in  this  State."  1 

In  1827-28  James  Parker  was  again  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey 
legislature.  He  had  constantly  kept  up  his  interest  in  education,  and 
had  the  satisfaction  now  of  seeing  the  best  people  of  the  State  awake 
to  the  importance  of  the  subject.  In  1820  had  been  passed  the  act 
allowing  townships  to  raise  money  for  the  education  of  the  children 
of  the  poor.  It  was  now  supjilemented  by  an  act  authorizing  them  to 
raise  money  also  for  building  and  repairing  schoolhouses,  and  the  pre- 
siding officer  was  directed  to  read  both  these  acts  to  the  people  at  the 
annual  town  meeting.  Voluntary  meetings  were  held  also  throughout 
the  State,  and  measures  taken  to  gather  the  statistics  of  illiteracy  for 
the  information  of  the  public. 

The  result  was  astounding.  The  agents  of  the  American  Bible 
Society,  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  gathered  much  of  this  infor- 
mation. The  New  Jersey  Missionary  Society  did  more.  It  not  only 
gadiered  statistics,  but  it  established  schools  also  in  the  most  destitute 
parts  of  the  State.  It  raised  funds  with  which  it  paid  for  the  services 
of  thirty-three  teachers  as  well  as  of  aii  agent  to  awaken  general  inter- 
est in  the  subject.  Prof.  John  Maclean,  who  had  been  a  teacher  at 
Princeton  since  ISlG,  was  a  member  of  this  committee.^ 

In  January,  1828,  he  delivered  an  address  before  the  literary  and 
philosophical  society  of  New  Jersey,  in  which  he  proposed  "A  common 
school  system  for  New  Jersey,"  following  out  into  more  practical  details 
the  suggestions  of  Jefferson.  Many  of  his  propositions  have  since  been 
adopted.  The  committee  of  which  he  was  a  member  was  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  as  their  agent  the  liev.  Eobert  Baird,  who  for  the 
preceding  five  years  had  been  teaching  an  academy  in  Princeton.^ 

'  The  State  treasurer  informs  me  that  on  the  Slst  day  of  October,  1896,  the  school 
fiiud  of  New  .Jersey  amonnted  to  $3,589,274.71. 

^The  Rev.  Dr.  Maclean  hehl  various  professorships  in  the  college  at  Princeton 
before  he  became  its  president. 

^Dr..  Baird  was  born  October  6,  1798,  and  died  March  15,  1863.  He  was  at  one  time 
au  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society  and  of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union. 
After  that  he  spent  seven  years  in  Eurojie  in  the  interests  of  temperance  and  of 
evangelical  religion,  and  then,  returning  home,  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to 
the  furtherance  of  evangelical  work  in  Europe.  (See  further  in  the  Life  of  Rev. 
Robert  Baird,  D.  D.,  by  his  son,  Prof.  Henry  M.  Baird,  D.  D.,  pp.  52-67.) 


154  HISTOEY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

He  was  an  enthusiast  upon  the  subject  of  education.  He  visited 
every  county,  held  pnblic  meetings,  and  set  forth  the  advantages  of  a 
good  system  of  common  schools  in  numerous  addresses  and  essays. 

It  was  probably  he  who  contributed  to  the  Newark  Sentinel  of  Free- 
dom the  twenty  essays  upon  education  published  in  that  paper  between 
August  20,  1828,  and  January  27, 1829,  though  it  is  possible  that  they 
may  have  been  written  by  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  or  the  two  men 
may  have  cooperated  in  the  work.' 

November  11,  1828,  '"A  public  meeting  of  the  friends  of  education" 
was  held  in  the  State  House  at  Trenton,  when  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  gather  and  disseminate  information  respecting  "the  state 
of  common  schools  in  New  Jersey."  This  committee  appointed  sub- 
committees, as  far  as  they  could,  in  the  various  townships  and  counties 
in  the  State.  Through  these  they  gathered  much  valuable  informa- 
tion and  printed  it  in  a  pamphlet  of  46  pages,  which  they  circulated 
throughout  the  State,  with  a  request  to  all  gentlemen  who  might 
receive  it,  "not  only  to  read  it  attentively  themselves,  but  also  to  cir- 
culate it  as  widely  as  possible  in  their  respective  neighborhoods." 

This  committee  consisted  of  Charles  Ewing,  of  Trenton,  John  N. 
Simpson,  of  New  Brunswick,  and  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  Newark.^ 

'  I  am  not  aware  that  the  purpose  to  print  these  and  other  similar  essays  in  pam- 
phlet form  was  ever  carried  into  execution;  hut  they  were  copied  into  most  of  the 
papers  of  the  State  and  produced  a  very  far-reaching  effect. 

After  the  passage  of  the  hill  estahlishing  a  general  school  system,  James  W. 
Alexander  wrote,  March  2,  1829:  ''It  owes  its  passage  to  the  zeal  and  labor  of  a 
single  man,  Rev.  Robert  Baird,  who  has  been  keeping  the  subject  before  the  minds 
of  the  people  in  newspaper  essays  for  some  months.  If  we  aspire  to  usefulness,  I 
know  no  way  in  which  we  can  promise  ourselves  so  much  real  success,  though  with- 
out noise  or  eclat."     (Familiar  Letters,  I,  123,  124.) 

In  a  letter  of  Dr.  Baird  to  Mrs.  Baird  (in  possession  of  their  son,  I'rof.  Henry  M. 
Baird,  LL.D.),  dated  Trenton,  October  26,  1828,  he  writes,  asking  her  to  lookup 
and  send  two  pamphlets,  one,  "the  Report  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools  of  New  York,"  and  the  other  "  a  copy  of  the  Revised  Statutes  on  the  sub- 
ject, of  the  same  State,"  to  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  esq.,  at  Newark,  N.  J.  And 
in  the  letter  mentioned  below  Fresideut  Wayland,  of  Brown  University,  writes  that 
a  commissioner  of  education  should  be  a  "thoughtful  man,  such  as  I  suppose  Mr.  F. 
to  be." 

2  It  seems  probable  that  the  pamphlet  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Frelinghuyseu.  (See 
the  preceding  note.)     These  three  were  among  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  State. 

Charles  Ewing  was  born  in  Burlington  County  July  8,  1770,  and  died  in  Trenton 
August  5,  1832.  He  was  for  many  years  chief  justice  of  his  native  State.  "  A  pro- 
found jurist  and  upright  magistrate;  an  accomplished  scholar  and  patron  of  litera- 
ture and  science;  the  advocate  and  supporter  of  benevolent  institutions,  he  won,  in 
an  eminent  degree  the  respect,  love,  and  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens." 

John  Neely  Simpson  was  born  in  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  April  6,  1770,  and  died  at 
Princeton,  May  13,  1832.  He  was  graduated  from  Princeton  College,  with  honors,  in 
1791.  He  was  many  years  in  public  life  as  a  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas 
for  Middlesex  and  Somerset,  both  of  which  counties  he  several  times  represented  in 
the  State  legislature.  1  le  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  active  friends  of  the  plan 
of  uniting  the  waters  of  the  Delaware  and  the  Raritan  by  a  canal  navigation. 


COMMON    SCHOOLS.  155~ 

lu  the  clieerfulness  with  which  the  most  respectable  citizens  assumed 
the  duties  of  the  various  county  and  township  committees  this  com- 
mittee recognized  a  j)ledge  on  the  part  of  the  public  to  sustain  the  leg- 
islature in  a  judicious  and  well-digested  system  of  common  school 
education.     The  report  gave  information  by  counties. 

Bergen  County,  as  such,  has  not  reported ;  but  in  the  mountainous 
])arts  particularly  "  there  is  a  great  destitution  of  schools,  want  of  com- 
petent teachers,  and  an  absence  of  the  means  of  supporting  them.  And 
even  in  the  level  and  more  wealthy  townships  .  .  .  there  are  many 
children  .  .  .  not  sent  to  school.  .  .  ,  There  are  more  than  200 
such  children  in  Bergen  Township  alone  who  are  not  seut  to  school." 

Essex  County  reports  1,200  children  of  an  age  proper  to  be  sent  to 
school  that  may  be  considered  destitute  of  instruction.  A  member  of 
one  of  the  subcommittees  of  this  county  recommends  the  establish- 
ment of  "a  school  for  the  sole  purpose  of  educating  young  men  for 
teachers."  ''Let  them  be  taught,"  he  says,  "not  only  the  common 
branches  required  to  be  taught  in  common  schools,  but  let  them  be 
instructed  and  properly  disciplined  in  the  best  mode  of  communicating 
ideas  to  the  young  mind.  They  should  learn  to  govern  themselves  and 
govern  a  school  without  a  rod  and  without  speaking  a  cross  word."' 

Morris  County,  probably,  more  richly  "enjoys  the  advantages  and 
blessings  of  education  than  any  other  in  the  State."  "  There  are  about 
82  schools  and  2,800  scholars  in  the  county."  "  There  ought  to  be  more 
than  4,000,"    The  price  of  tuition  varies  from  $1.50  to  $2  per  quarter. 

Sussex  County  presents  the  most  complete  report,  with  a  map  of  the 
schools  of  the  county  (which,  however,  is  not  printed  in  the  report); 
but  there  were  "in  eight  townships  more  than  twenty  districts  desti- 

January  25,  1816,  he  Tvas  one  of  the  conimiesioners  appointed  by  the  legislature  to 
investigate  and  report  upon  this  subject.  November  20,  1820,  Governor  Isaac  H. 
Williamson  addressed  to  him  a  letter  (still  in  existence)  asking  "information  as  to 
the  probable  amount  of  tonnage  which  -would  yearly  go  through  (such)  a  canal."  In 
1824  the  Dela^Yare  and  Raritan  Canal  C<:mpauy  was  chartered  by  the  legislature, 
and  the  first  named  of  tlie  three  persons  constituting  the  corporation  was  John  N. 
Simpson.  (Princeton  Courier  of  May  12,  1832,  and  letter  from  Mr.  Simpson's  graiid- 
son,  the  Eev.  Samuel  M.  Studdiford,  D.  D.,  of  Trenton.) 

Theodore  Frelinghuysen  was  born  in  Somerset  County  March  28,  1787,  and  died  at 
New  Brunswick  April  12,  1861.  He  was  graduated  from  Princeton  College,  with  high 
honors,  in  1801,  and  became  a  successful  lawyer  in  Newark.  He  was  made  attornej^- 
general  of  the  State  in  1817,  and  twice  afterwards.  In  this  capacity  he  was  one  of 
the  trustees  of  the  fund  for  the  support  of  free  schools,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
cause  of  education  with  the  same  conscientious  zeal  that  characterized  his  whole 
life.  From  1829  to  1836  he  was  United  States  Senator  from  New  Jersey.  In  1837 
and  1838  he  was  mayor  of  Newark.  From  1840  to  1849  he  was  chancellor  of  the 
University  of  New  York;  and  from  1849  to  his  death  president  of  Rutgers  College, 
at  New  Brunswick,  where  I  was  a  student  under  his  instruction.  No  American  lay- 
man was  ever  associated  with  so  many  great  national  organizations  of  religion  and 
charity. 

'  I  regret  that  the  name  of  this  writer  is  not  given.  Could  it  have  been  Nathan 
Hedges? 


156  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION   IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

tute  of  scliools,  and  tbe  astonishing  number  of  nearly  1,500  children 
destitute  of  instruction."' 

"  *  *  Many  of  those  lidding  themselves  forth  as  teachers  are  incompeteut  to 
teach  or  too  loose  in  morality  to  deserve  employment.  ^^  *  *  In  conclusion,  the 
committee  feel  warranted  in  expressing  the  earnest  and  universal  desire  of  the  people 
that  something  might  be  done  for  the  encouragement  and  support  of  schools,  *  *  * 
and  it  is  humbly  believed  that  legislative  aid  alone  ■will  furnish  an  adequate  cor- 
rective of  the  evils  and  defects  in  our  present  system. 

Warren  County  had  ''57  schoolhouses  and  about  twenty  regions  of 
very  considerable  extent  wholly  destitute.'' 

*  *  *  About  30  is  the  average  number  of  pupils  in  each  school.  *  *  ^  Twelve 
of  the  schools  are  kept  up  during  the  whole  year.  Of  the  remaining  45  some  have 
been  destitute  the  whole  of  the  past  year,  and  some  have  had  teachers  three  months, 
some  six  months,  and  a  very  few  nine  months.  The  price  of  tuition  varies  from  $1.25 
to  $2  per  quarter. 

With  regard  to  the  teachers,  *  *  «  the  greater  part  are  utterly  incompetent 
to  discharge  the  high  and  important  trust  they  have  undertaken,  and  too  many  set 
an  example  at  which  tbe  mind  of  every  philanthropist  must  revolt. 

About  1,600  children  receive  school  instruction  some  part  of  the  year;  and  when 
we  reflect  that  we  have  a  population  of  more  than  17,000  iu  our  county,  we  conclude 
that  by  far  the  greater  number  of  children  are  entirely  destitute.  *  *  *  The 
people  are  anxiously  looking  forward  to  the  legislature. 

Somerset  County  reports  "1,617  children  instructed  in  CO  schools," 
and  "485  destitute  of  instruction." 

Several  of  the  townships  raise  small  sums  annually  for  the  education  of  poor  chil- 
dren; and  honorable  mention  is  made  of  one  individual  in  Bridgewater  Township 
who  contributes  $80  per  annum  for  tliis  philanthropic  purpose.  The  committee  of 
Hillsboro  report  49  children  as  educated  at  the  town's  expense  this  year.  The  char- 
acter of  the  teaihers  is  represented  as  generally  good. 

The  distinguished  member  of  the  central  committee  of  this  county,  who  trans- 
mitted their  report  [probably  Peter  D.  Vroom,  who  had  already  been  elected  gov- 
ernor, though  he  had  not  yet  been  inaugurated],  exclaims,  "Who  could  have  thought 
that  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  where  poverty  and  want  appear  to  be  almost  stran- 
gers, there  should  be  upward  of  400  children  growing  up  in  utter  ignorance  I" 

Hunterdon  County  lias  more  than  900  children  destitute  of  instruc- 
tion. 

In  the  township  of  Tewksbury  there  are  only  104  children  who  are  receiving  the 
benefit  of  school  instruction,  while  there  are  150  who  are  entirely  destitute. 

In  the  report  from  another  township  in  this  county  it  is  stated  that  "our  schools 
are  badly  regulated;  but  few  have  trustees  appointed,  and  we  are  very  often 
imposed  upon  by  strangers,  who  palm  themselves  off  upon  us  as  teachers,  whose 
haliits  are  bad  in  every  respect,  and  disqualified  for  teachers  of  youth." 

Middlesex  County  reports  that  there  can  not  be  less  than  "1,000  chil- 
dren in  the  entire  county  who  are  destitute  of  the  necessary  facilities 
for  obtaining  a  common  education."  In  West  Windsor,  South  Amboj', 
and  Piscata way  there  are  "25  schools,"  more  than  half  of  which  are 
kept  up  six  months  annually.  The  moral  character  of  the  teachers  is 
represented  as  in  general  good;  in  some  instances,  pious,  but  in  several 
cases,  as  bad.     The  price  of  tuition  varies  from  $1.50  to  $2. 


COMMON    SCHOOLS.  157 


Monmouth  has 


complete  reports  from  only  three  of  the  seven  townships  in  this  county.  These  prob- 
ably embrace  the  best  portions  of  the  connty.  The  townships  are  Freehold,  Upper 
Freehold,  and  Shrewsbury.  *  *  *  jf  -^yg  -were  to  assume  the  number  of  those 
that  are  reported  as  growing  up  in  entire  ignorance  in  these  three  townships  as  a 
basis  of  a  calculation  for  the  whole  county,  the  result  would  be  that  there  are 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  1,000  children  in  this  county  growing  up  in  ignorance.  »  *  * 
Last  year  there  were  more  than  1,000  persons  above  15  years  of  age  in  Shrewsbury, 
Dover,  and  Howell  who  could  not  read,  and  700  who  w<Me  not  sent  to  school. 

Burlingtou  County  reports  a  i^ublic  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  county,  hekl  at  Mount  Holly  on  the  31st  of  October,  to  receive  the 
report  of  a 

committee  appointed  at  a  public  meeting  held  at  G.  Owen's  Inn,  in  Mount  Holly,  on 
the  28th  of  June,  1828,  to  ascertain  the  state  of  schools  in  the  county  of  Burlington. 
The  committee  feel  bound  to  state  that  this  information  has  been  mostly  procured 
by  the  aid  of  Mr.  Peck,  who  has  visited  every  township  in  the  county.  *  *  * 
The  committee  find  the  whole  number  of  schools  to  be  120,  with  an  aggregate  num- 
ber of  2,857  pupils.  Among  these  are  four  boarding  schools  ;  one  free  school  in  Bur- 
lington, and  one  charity  school  in  Mount  Holly,  under  the  direction  of,  and  sup- 
ported by,  a  number  of  benevolent  families  in  that  town.  The  committee  regret  to 
state  the  fact  that  there  are  about  400  children  nearly  destitute  of  schooling,  besides 
a  number  who  are  altogether  without  education. 

There  are  74  male  and  46  female  teachers  in  the  county;  68  schools 
taught  all  the  year  and  52  only  a  ]>art;  price  of  tuition,  from  $1.12i  to 
82  and  $3  per  quarter,  and  in  some  few  cases  more;  and  629  scholars 
are  reported  who  are  more  than  14  years  of  age. 

There  are  also  considerable  permanent  funds  in  some  townships  in  this  county 
whose  interest  is  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  schools.  The  Society  of  Friends  in 
this  county,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  have  always  paid  great  attention  to  the 
maintenance  of  good  schools  and  the  education  of  the  poor. 

Gloucester  County  was  at  this  time  "  the  largest  in  territory,  although 
in  regard  to  population  it  is  only  fifth  in  the  State." 

In  some  places  where  the  population  is  sparse  the  people  have  been  for  years  des- 
titute of  schools,  and  they  are  represented  as  being  very  solicitous  to  obtain  oppor- 
tunities of  educating  their  children.  *  *  *  It  will  be  impossible  in  many  places 
that  schools  should  be  supported  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  without  legislative 
aid. 

Salem  County  furnishes  reports  from  only  five  of  the  ten  townships. 
In  these  "there  are  29  schools,  768  scholars  in  summer  and  1,214  in 
winter;  347  white  children  (30  of  whom  are  indentured)  and  100  colored 
children  that  may  be  reported  not  educated ;  five  school  districts  des- 
titute of  schools;  and  the  price  of  tuition  to  be  from  $1.50  to  $2." 

A  member  of  the  committee  of  Upper  Alloway's  Creek  writes: 

The  system  of  common-school  instruction  throughout  this  State  is  miserably 
deficient  and  calls  loudly  for  amendment.  Intelligence  is  the  life  of  liberty;  and  a 
general  diffusion  of  common-school  learning  through  the  medium  of  common  schools 
will  be,  under  heaven,  the  strongest  bulwark  of  our  creed  and  religious  privileges; 
and  I  earnestly  hope  that  our  legislature  will  be  induced  to  adopt  some  more  efficient 
mode  of  instruction.' 

'  See  pp.  186-87. 


168 


HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 


The  county  committee  further  say: 

It  is  only  by  the  possession  of  facts  that  the  public  can  judge  correctly  of  the 
real  state  of  common-school  education  among  us.  And  surely  it  must  be  equally 
appalling  to  the  patriot  and  the  philanthropist  to  find  so  great  a  proportion  of  our 
youth  rising  up  to  sustain  the  relations  and  discharge  the  duties  of  citizens  and 
parents  without  that  education  which  alone  can  fit  them  for  their  future  responsi- 
bilities. *  *  *  There  are  in  five  townships  about  1,663  children  between  the 
ages  of  5  and  15;  449  of  these  are  uneducated,  and  consequently,  upon  an  average, 
one-fourth  of  the  men  and  women  of  these  townships  are  in  danger  of  growing  up 
in  the  most  deplorable  ignorance. 

Cumberlaud  County  reports  statistics  according  to  the  number  of 
months  that  schools  are  kept  open,  as  follows: 


Number 

of 
schools. 

Number 

of  months 

taught. 

Average       Average 
number  of   number  of 
scholars  in  scholars  in 

winter.        summer. 

17 
15 
14 
18 

12 
9 
6 
3 

550 
373 
345 
145 

483 

299 

226 

20 

54 

1,413 

1,028 

In  two  of  the  schools  9  scholars  were  taught  the  languages,  and  in 
several  other  schools  geography  and  singing  were  taught.  The  greatest 
evil,  and  that  which  calls  most  loitdly  for  remedy,  is  the  difficulty  in 
obtaining  competent  instructors. 

There  are  more  than  400  adults  in  the  county  unable  to  read  and  a  considerably 
larger  number  unable  to  write.  Last  year  there  were  reported  more  than  400  chil- 
dren as  destitute  of  instruction. 

Cape  May  County  made  no  report,  but  the  agents  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  had  reported  that — 

in  the  three  northern  townships  of  Cape  May  there  are  upward  of  200  above  15  years 
of  age  who  can  not  read.  One  oif  the  agents  made  this  statement:  "Of  the  families 
which  I  visited,  there  were  18  in  which  were  none  who  could  read;  20  in  which 
neither  of  the  parents  could  read,  and  55  in  which  only  one  of  the  parents  could 
read."  Upon  this  appalling  picture  the  committee  feel  that  they  need  make  no 
remark. 

They  estimate  that  there  are  in  the  whole  State  children  destitute  of 
instruction  "making  an  aggregate  of  11,74:2,"  and  "every  schoolmaster 
(speaking  generally)  is  left  to  pursue  his  own  course  of  instruction, 
without  responsibility,  amenable  to  no  tribunal,  and  subject  to  no 
inspection  or  supervision." 

The  committee  say: 

Of  the  three  modes  of  providing  for  popular  instruction,  viz,  that  in  which  the 
scholars  pay  everything  and  the  public  nothing  (the  mode  now  existing  in  New 
Jersey);  that  in  which  the  public  pay  everything  and  the  scholars  nothing  (as  in 
Connecticut);  and  that  in  which  the  burden  is  shared  by  both,  the  arguments 
advanced  by  Dr  Chalmers,  in  his  Consideration  on  the  System  of  Parochial  Schools 
in  Scotland,  in  favor  of  the  last,  appear  to  be  unanswerable. 


COMMON    SCHOOLS.  159 

They  strongly  urge  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  education  by  legisla- 
tive enactment. 

In  an  appendix  are  printed  letters  from  distinguished  citizens  of 
various  States,  each  describing  the  school  system  of  his  own  State. 
Some  of  these  had  previously  been  printed  in  the  iSTewark  Sentinel 
series.  The  system  of  New  York  is  described  by  Azariah  C.  Flagg, 
secretary  of  state;  that  of  Connecticut,  by  Roger  M.  Sherman;  that  of 
Rhode  Island,  by  Francis  Wayland,  president  of  Brown  University; 
that  of  Vermont,  by  Governor  Ezra  Butler;  that  of  Massachusetts, 
by  Governor  Levi  Lincoln;  that  of  New  Hampshire,  by  Governor 
John  Bell;  that  of  Maine,  by  Governor  Albion  K.  Parris.  There  is 
also  a  letter  from  Richard  Vaux,  the  well-known  philanthropist,  of 
Philadelphia. 

President  Wayland's  letter  says : 

As  to  the  devising  of  a  system  of  instruction,  I  should  proceed  upon  the  principle 
that  all  our  present  teaching  is  very  nearly  as  bad  as  it  can  be.  It  is  almost  all 
treating  of  the  pupil  as  though  he  were  a  machine,  and  it  is  rapidly  proceeding  to 
render  the  instructor  a  machine  also.  There  is  no  effort  made  to  exercise  the  mind 
of  the  pupil,  or  make  him  understand  or  feel  what  he  reads.  Indeed,  the  teaching 
*     *     *     IS  in  opposition  to  all  the  principles  of  the  human  mind. 

Dr.  Wayland  strongly  recommends  the  appointment  of  a  commis- 
sioner of  the  school  fund,  "  to  make  himself  fully  acquainted  with  the 
present  state  of  common  schools  amongst  us,  its  defects,  and  the  best 
mode  of  remedying  them."     And  so  the  work  went  on. 

Through  the  influence  of  various  organizations  and  agencies,  acting  in  harmony 
for  the  accomplishment  of  one  object,  there  was  created  a  popular  sentiment  in 
favor  of  a  system  of  public  schools,  to  which  the  legislature  of  1829  heartily 
responded.  This  desire  on  the  part  of  the  peojde  was  made  known  in  the  numerous 
memorials  and  petitions  which  came  to  the  legislature  from  all  parts  of  the  State. 
These  communications  were  referred  to  a  committee,  which,  after  a  careful  consid- 
eration of  the  subject,  make  an  interesting  and  valuable  report. 

This  report  showed  "  the  importance  of  a  well-grounded  system  of 
common  school  education"  and  "the  expediency  of  legislative  aid  in 
the  promotion  of  this  great  object.''  It  declares  that  "  the  public  mind 
is  not  only  prepared  for  the  adoption  of  a  school  system,  but  is  anxious 
that  the  same  should  be  carried  into  immediate  effect." 

In  accordance  with  these  views,  the  legislature  of  1829  passed  the 
first  law  establishing  a  system  of  schools  in  New  Jersey  by  State 
authority.  This  law  was  amended  and  improved  in  1830,  but  the  acts 
of  1829  and  1830  were  both  repealed  in  1831,  and  another  was  passed 
which  allowed  the  public  moneys  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  all 
schools,  whether  i^ublic,  private,  or  parochial.  Afterwards,  however,  a 
reaction  took  place.  Those  who  had  secured  the  passage  of  the  acts 
of  1829  and  1830  never  relaxed  their  eftbrts,  but  continued  by  all 
proper  means  to  educate  public  sentiment  in  the  right  direction.  The 
consequence  was  a  constantly  increasing  interest  in  the  subject  through- 
out the  State,  and  there  was  more  or  less  improvement  in  the  local 


IGO  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

schools.  Sometimes,  as  was  but  natural,  tbe  reformers  were  "  ahead 
of  the  times."  As  early  as  1830  Robert  Ritteuhouse  established  a 
manual-labor  school  near  Locktown,in  Hunterdon  County.  Of  course 
it  was  a  failure  financially,  and  his  wife  complained  that  most  of  the 
manual  labor  came  upon  her. 

In  other  localities,  however,  perseverance  triumj)hed  over  discour- 
agements. An  enterprise  undertaken  by  William  Rankin  at  Decker- 
town,  in  Sussex  County,  may  be  taken  as  an  illustration : 

When  the  above-named  gentleman  proposed  to  open  a  select  school  in  the  village, 
so  little  interest  was  felt  in  the  proposal  that  he  could  procure  no  room  but  a  small 
building  about  14  feet  square  in  an  inconvenient  part  of  the  village.  This,  however, 
he  rented,  and  commenced  his  first  term  with  a  single  scholar;  and  this  lone  pupil 
was  not  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  but  from  New  York. 

This  discouraging  commencement  did  not  arise  from  want  of  knowledge  or  confi- 
dence in  the  teacher,  for  he  had  been  favorably  known  in  the  county  for  several 
years  previous  as  a  classical  instructor;  neither  was  it  because  the  inhabitants  were 
averse  to  education,  but  it  stands  as  an  illustration  of  the  strength  of  habit  on  com- 
munities and  the  ditiflculty  of  breaking  over  the  barriers  of  long-continued  custom. 
They  had  never  fostered  education  within  their  own  limits,  and  therefore  they  had 
no  faith  in  this  infant  institution.  It  was  universally  looked  on  as  a  romantic  and 
impracticable  undertaking.  But  the  school  went  on,  and  for  the  first  week  with 
one  scholar  only,  who  accompanied  his  preceptor  to  and  from  the  schoolroom  at  reg- 
ular hours,  resembling  a  hen  with  one  chicken.  However,  before  the  ensuing  spring 
the  school  numbered  20  scholars. 

When  the  school  had  been  in  operation  about  two  months  the  teacher  had  locked 
the  schoolroom  door  one  evening  and  walked  out  of  the  A'illage,  and  did  not  return 
till  about  11  o'clock.  He  was  surprised  to  see  his  schoolroom  lighted,  knowing  that 
he  had  left  it  locked.  Upon  ai)proaching  a  window  he  perceived  the  room  to  be 
filled  with  well-dressed,  gentlemanly  looking  men — some  standing,  others  seated, 
round  a  table  which  was  almost  covered  with  money  of  various  kinds — all  giving 
profound  attention  to  the  game  that  was  in  jirogress  with  cards.  He  then  unlocked 
the  <loor  and  stepped  in.  No  seeming  notice,  however,  was  taken  of  him,  and  after 
observing  the  scene  for  a  few  minutes  he  observed  to  a  gentleman  standing  near  him 
that  he  would  be  thankful  if,  when  they  were  done  using  the  room,  they  would  leave 
it  in  good  order.  He  then  retired,  and  in  the  morning,  upon  returning,  found  the 
room  divested  of  men,  money,  and  table,  the  door  locked — all  in  good  condition.' 

Ten  years  later  it  was  stated  in  the  county  newspaper  that — 

the  principal  of  the  school  at  Deckertown  commenced  his  career  of  instruction  in 
this  county  about  lifteeii  years  ago,  and  since  that  period  the  youth  that  have  been 
under  his  charge  number  about  1,000.  Few  years  within  this  time  have  elapsed 
without  more  or  less  of  his  pupils  becoming  prepared  to  enter  college,  or  commence 
professional  studies;  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  schools  in  the  surrounding  coun- 
try have  been,  and  arc,  conducted  by  teachers  qualified  from  the  same  source  of 
instruction. 

Few  cases  occur  of  a  bias  of  mind  so  strong  and  exclusive  toward  a  particular 
pursuit,  as  is  evinced  by  this  individual  in  his  favorite  occupation  of  instructing 
youth.  This  has  been  manifested  from  the  increasing  zeal  and  ardor  which  has 
existed  in  this  institution  for  the  last  year  to  keep  pace  with  the  most  recent  and 
best  methods  of  instruction,  and  to  cultivate  an  ac(iuaiiitance  with  the  most  useful 
and  interesting  developnunts  of  science.- 

'  Barber  and  Howe's  Historical  Collections,  p.  487. 

-Sussex  Register  of  'Sluy  22,  1843,  quoted  by  Barber  &  Howe. 


COMMON    SCHOOLS.  161 

Durinf?  these  years  teachers  were  constantly  trying  new  expedients 
to  stimuhite  the  zeal  of  their  pupils.  Matthew  Seymour  had  a  school 
at  Bridgeton,  in  Cumberland  County.  It  was,  of  course,  a  pay  school, 
but  poor  and  orphan  children  and  apprentices  were  taught  at  the  pub- 
lic expense.  The  tuition  was  $2  a  quarter.  On  Saturdays,  as  in  other 
schools  of  the  jjeriod,  certificates  of  proficiency  were  issued  to  those 
who  had  made  most  progress  during  the  week.  These  Avere  sometimes 
written  in  full  by  the  teacher;  but  the  "tickets''  most  highly  prized 
were  printed  forms  with  a  small  picture  at  the  top.  Instead  of  these, 
Matthew  Seymour  issued  checks  for  small  amounts  of  money,  and  paid 
them  in  due  season  according  to  contract.  One  of  these  has  recently 
been  found,  entitling  the  person  named  to  "25  cents  for  diligence  and 
attention  to  studies."^ 

About  this  time  Joseph  Thompson,  the  teacher  in  Hunterdon  and 
Somerset  counties,  was  in  the  habit  of  issuing  checks  for  time,  payable 
to  the  pupil  named  on  demand.  These  were  usually  saved  until  a 
considerable  number  could  be  presented,  when  the  industrious  holders 
would  take  sometimes  half  a  day,  or  even  a  whole  day,  for  a  game  of 
ball,  or  hare  and  hounds,  or  whatever  they  might  elect.  These  time 
checks  read  somewhat  as  follows : 

This  is  to  certify  that  A B ,  having  by  unusual  diligence  mastered  the  les- 
sons of  the  day  before  the  closing  of  the  school,  and  having  by  excellent  deportment 
deserved  well  of  the  teacher,  he  is  hereby  entitled  to  10  [or  12,  or  15,  or  20]  minutes 
of  school  time  on  any  day  that  he  may  choose. 

(Date.)  (Signature  of  teacher.) 

Another  certificate  (now  before  me)  is  as  follows: 

This  may  certify  that  A B is  at  the  head  of  the  first  class  in  spelling. 

12.6.38.  Joseph  Thompson. 

While  there  were  as  yet  no  public  schools  in  the  modern  sense, 
the  best  teachers  regarded  themselves,  and  were  regarded  by  others, 
not  as  State  ofticials,  but  as  in  place  of  the  parent,  doing  what  they 
could  to  aid  employers  in  the  discharge  of  parental  duty.  The  con- 
sciousness of  this  relation  had  advantages  not  always  realized  under 
our  newer  and  better  systems.  In  those  days  the  parent  was,  more 
than  now,  the  helper  of  the  teacher  by  aiding  the  study  of  the  child  at 
home. 

No  amount  of  description  can  give  so  vivid  a  conception  of  the  cir 
cumstances  and  conditions  and  appearance  of  the  boys  of  the  period  as 
is  atibrded  by  the  pictures  of  contemporary  artists.  "  The  studious 
boy''  was  painted  by  William  S.  Mount  in  1834.  Under  the  stimula- 
tion of  this  "truly  fine  picture"  (as  he  calls  it),  William  Dunlap,  who 
had  painted  Washington's  portrait  while  the  General  was  writing  his 
farewell  address  at  Rocky  Hill,  sketched  "  The  idle  boy."  Copies  of 
these  are  here  inserted. 

'  Letter  from  Edward  A.  Boweu. 
20687  No.  23 11 


162  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

January  IG,  1838,  another  convention  was  held  in  Trenton,  over  which 
Chief  Justice  Hornhh)wer  presided.  It  declared  that  the  school  laws 
were  defective  and  ought  to  be  repealed.  It  recommended  further 
advance  all  along  the  line,  including  the  appointment  of  a  State  super- 
intendent of  common  schools,  and  appointed  a  commk;tee  to  prepare  an 
address  to  the  people  of  New  Jersey.  This  committee  consisted  of  the 
I'iglit  Rev.  George  Washington  Doane,  D.  D.  (who  had  been  elected 
bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  this  diocese  in  1832), 
and  such  other  well-known  men  as  L.  Q.  C.  Elmer,  M.  J.  Rhees,  Theo- 
dore Frelingbuysen,  J.  S.  Green,  D.  B.  Rydall,  A.  B.  Dod,  A.  Atwood, 
and  S.  R.  Gummere. 

The  address  was  prepared  by  Bishop  Doane,  who  had  been  a  suc- 
cessful teacher,  first  in  a  classical  school  which  he  established  in  New 
York,  and  then  as  professor  in  Trinity  College.  He  was,  moreover,  an 
enthusiastic  patriot.  The  ringing  words  which  he  wrote  have  been  an 
inspiration  to  succeeding  workers  from  the  day  they  were  printed 
until  now.  The  bishop  insisted  that  "  every  free  State  must  provide 
for  the  education  of  all  her  children."  He  quoted  Sir  William  Jones's 
free  translation  of  the  lines  from  Alcjcus,  used  with  such  telling  effect 
by  Aristides  in  one  of  his  stirring  appeals: 

' Ov  XiOoi,  ovSe  ^vXa,  ovde 

Tex'^t;  reHvovGov  ai  itoXeti  et6iv, 
'JAA'  QTCov  Ttor  dv  cjdiv  avSpEi; 

AvTov;  6cbZ,Ety  eISotec., 
^EvTaCOa  TEixt]  xai  itoXEic,. 

WHAT   CONSTITUTES   A    STATE? 

Not  liigh-niiseil  battlements,  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  walls,  or  moated  gate  ; 
Not  citii-8  prond,  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned, 

Not  bays  and  broad-armed  ports, 
Where,  laiii;liing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts. 
Where  low-browed  basenesa  wafts  perfume  to  pride; 
*     ■  »  *       ..  *  ■  # 

No!  Men,  high-minded  men, 

Men  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights;  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain, 

Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain; 

These  constitute  a  State. 

He  declared  that  the  common  school  is  common,  not  as  inferior,  but 
as  the  light  and  the  air  are  common.  Indignantly  he  denounced  the 
notion  that  there  is  to  be  an  education  for  the  poor  as  such. 

Has  God  provided  for  the  poor  a  coarser  earth,  a  thinner  air,  a  paler  sky?  Does 
not  the  glorious  sun  pour  down  his  golden  flood  as  cheerily  upon  the  poor  man's 
hovel  as  upon  the  rich  nuiu's  palace?  Have  not  the  cotter's  children  as  keen  a 
sense  of  all  the  freshness,  verdure,  fragrance,  melody,  and  beauty  of  luxuriant  nature 


THE   IDLE   BOY. 


THE   STUDIOUS   BOY. 


COMMON    SCHOOLS.  163 

as  the  pale  sons  of  kings?  Or  is  it  on  the  mind  that  God  has  stamped  the  imjirint 
of  a  baser  birth,  so  that  the  poor  man's  cliikl  knows,  with  an  inborn  certainty,  that 
liis  h)t  is  to  crawl,  not  to  climb f  It  is  not  so.  God  has  not  done  it.  Man  can  not 
do  it.  Mind  is  immortal.  Mind  is  im])erial.  It  bears  no  mark  of  high  or  low,  of 
rich  or  poor.  It  heeds  no  bound  of  time  or  place,  of  rank  or  circumstance.  It  asks 
but  freedom.  It  requires  but  light.  It  is  heaven  born,  and  it  aspires  to  heaven. 
Weakness  does  not  enfeeble  it.  Poverty  can  not  repress  it.  Difficulties  do  but 
stimulate  its  vigor.  And  the  poor  tallow  chandler's  son,  that  sits  up  all  the  night 
to  read  the  book  which  an  apprentice  lends  him  lest  the  master's  eyes  should  miss 
it  in  the  morning,  shall  stand  and  treat  with  kings,  shall  add  new  provinces  to  the 
<lomain  of  science,  shall  bind  the  lightning  with  a  hempen  cord,  and  bring  it  harm- 
less from  th<'  skies.' 

These  stirring  words  had  a  most  inspiring'  effect.  Public  opinion 
was  aroused;  and  the  legislature  repealed  the  obnoxious  laws,  enacted 
better  ones,  and  recjuested  the  trustees  of  the  fund  for  the  support  of 
free  schools  to  report  annually — 

a  statement  of  the  condition  of  public  schools  througiiout  the  State;  estimates  and 
accounts  of  expenditures  of  all  moneys  appropriated  by  law  to  the  purposes  of 
education,  together  with  all  such  matters  relating  to  education  as  they  may  deem 
it  expedient  to  communicate. 

The  State  appropriation  was  raised  to  $30,000  annually,  the  money 
to  be  given  exclusively  to  public  schools.  The  townships  were  required 
to  raise  $2  for  every  $1  received  from  the  State,  the  moneys  to  be  dis- 
tributed to  all.  A  board  of  examiners  for  each  county  was  authorized 
to  examine  teachers,  and  the  minimum  of  the  school  age  was  fixed  at 
five  years. 

Noah  Webster  was  an  important  factor  in  education  during  the  first 
half  of  the  century,  in  New  Jersey  as  well  as  elsewhere,  as  through 
his  dictionary  he  still  is.  He  made  his  home  for  a  time  at  Princeton, 
and  for  more  than  thirty  years  "  Webster's  Elementary  Spelling  Book" 
had  an  annual  circulation  of  1,000,000  copies.  It  was  printed  by 
Terhune  &  Letson,  at  New  Brunswick,  and  was  used  probably  in  every 
school  in  the  State,  though  it  lacked  the  pictures  and  the  fables  in 
^'Webster's  American  Spelling  Book,"  which  preceded  it  (having  been 
first  issued  in  1784)  and  was  used  in  New  Jersey  until  1835.  Webster's 
Grammar  was  not  much  used  in  New  Jersey.  It  might  have  been  dif- 
ferent if  the  author  had  succeeded  in  his  endeavor  to  induce  Mr.  Ter- 
hune to  enter  into  partnership  with  his  son  and  make  New  Brunswick 
the  i)lace  of  publication  of  all  his  works. ^ 

A  much  better  book  than  any  of  the  English  works  on  arithmetic 
that  were  used  during  the  colonial  period  was  the  "New  and  complete 
system  of  arithmetic,  composed  for  the  use  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  by  Nicholas  Pike,  A.  M.'" 

It  was  a  large  octavo,  and  must  have  been  rather  costly.     As  an 

'  This  eloquent  address,  long  out  of  print,  has  been  reprinted  in  the  Report  of  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1895-96,  Vol.  I,  pp.  250-254. 
'^  Letter  from  William  L.  Terhune,  esq. 


164  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

Americau  work,  however,  it  bad  a  wide  circulation,  and  deserved  it; 
but  it  was  designed  for  the  use  of  teachers  rather  than  of  pupils.' 

A  smaller  book  was  needed,  and  during  the  first  half  of  the  century 
Nathan  Daboll's  Teacher's  Assistant  came  into  general  use  in  New  Jer- 
sey. It  introduced  the  study  of  the  decimal  currency  of  the  United 
States  (along  with  the  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  system  of  the  col- 
onies), and  was  a  distinct  advance  upon  previous  "Assistants." 

It  was  partly  supplanted,  however,  by  a  still  smaller  book,  at  a  lower 
price,  sold  as  Pike's  Arithmetic,  largely  on  the  reputation  of  the  very 
different  work  of  Nicholas  Pike  of  the  i)receding  century.^ 

In  all  these  books  the  "answer"  to  the  "sum"  was  printed  under  it. 
By  a  single  glance  at  the  slate,  then,  the  pupil  and  the  teacher  could 
see  whether  the  correct  result  had  been  reached.  If  so,  it  was  inferred 
that  the  process  was  correct.  But  some  pupils  soon  learned  to  "copy 
the  answer  out  of  the  book,"  without  nuich  regard  to  the  preceding 
figures.  Some  ingenious  students  also  would  "work  back"  from  the 
answer  to  the  problem,  instead  of  obeying  the  oft  repeated  but  often 
unintelligible  injunction  to  "mind  the  rule."  Even  if  this  process  did 
more  to  stimulate  thought  than  did  the  method  prescribed,  neverthe- 
less the  method  nuist  be  observed,  and  therefore  the  possibility  of 
using  some  other  method  must  be  i^recluded.  For  this  reason  some 
"assistants''  to  the  study  of  arithmetic  were  printed  without  any 
"answers,"  these  being  furnished  in  a  separate  pamphlet  for  the  mas- 
ter's use  alone.  But  this  involved  expense  and  trouble  for  him. 
Hence  another  expedient  was  adopted.  Rose's  Arithmetic,  by  a 
teacher  at  Perth  Amboy,  is  interesting  chiefly  because  he  printed  the 
answer  in  the  book  in  letters  instead  of  figures.  The  teacher  alone 
was  furnished  with  the  following  key  to  the  cryptogram: 

1234567890 
p  e  r  t  li  a  m  1)  o  y 

IV.    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

There  was  a  great  revival  of  education  in  the  United  States  midway 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  But  always  the  present  is  the  child  of  the 
past. 

We  have  seen  what  was  done  in  New  Jersey  in  1828  and  1829.  And 
a  similar  movement  occurred  in  1838  and  1839.  Theodore  Freliughuy- 
sen,  who  had  been  in  the  other,  was  in  this  also.  He  presided  at  a 
national  delegate  convention  called  to  discuss  education  in  the  United 
States,  at  Philadelphia,  in  1839.     He  was  at  this  time  chancellor  of  the 


'The  second  edition,  enlarged,  revised,  and  corrected  by  Ebenezer  Adams,  A.  M., 
preceptor  of  Leicester  Academy,  was  printed  at  Worcester,  Mnss.,  at  the  press  of 
Isaiah  Thomas,  by  Leonard  Worcester,  for  said  Thomas,  in  1797.  Nicholas  Pike  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  176(5,  and  died  at  Newburyport  in  1819,  aged  76  years. 

-I  snppose  that  the  author  was  not  responsible  for  this,  for  his  full  name,  Stephen 
Pike,  was  upon  the  title-page. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  165 

University  of  New  York,  and  could  not  give  his  time  to  New  Jersey. 
But  there  were  others  who  caught  the  torch  from  the  hands  of  the  men 
of  1828  and  bore  it  forward  with  a  zest  and  glad  selfsacrifice  equal  to 
theirs. 

Chief  among  these  in  all  the  land  was  the  secretary  of  the  board  of 
education  of  Massachusetts,  who  issued  his  first  report  in  1838;  and 
not  only  Massachusetts,  but  New  Jersey  also,  was  awakened  by  the 
"  thunderstorm  of  Horace  Mann's  cyclonic  proclamation  of  his  modest 
office." 

Among  the  men  of  New  Jersey  who  were  prepared  to  welcome  and 
carry  forward  the  rising  enthusiasm  were  Stacy  G.  Potts,  the  eminent 
jurist  and  litterateur  of  Trenton;  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Murray,  D.  D.,  of 
Elizabeth;  the  Rev.  William  R.  Weeks,  D.  D.,  of  Newark;  Stephen 
Congar,  M.  D.,  and  Nathan  Hedges,  the  eminent  teacher,  both  of  that 
city,  all  of  whom  have  ceased  from  their  labors.  And  their  works  do 
follow  them.  Two  of  the  men  of  that  day  whom  those  delight  to  honor 
who  know  how  much  we  owe  to  them  are  still  with  us,  viz,  the  vener- 
able Samuel  H.  Pennington,  M.  D.,  president  of  the  New  Jersey  His- 
torical Society,  and  the  Hon.  John  Whitehead,  president  of  the  New 
Jersey  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 

Dr.  Pennington  has  long  been  known  as  the  author  not  only  of  many 
contributions  to  the  literature  of  medical  science,  but  also  of  numerous 
addresses  upon  education  and  kindred  topics.  He  has  ever  been  the 
ready  counselor  and  friend  of  younger  men  who  have  carried  forward 
the  work  which  owes  so  much  to  him  and  his  associates  in  the  past. 
He  writes  that  bis  great  age  will  not  allow  him  the  effort  to  recall  the 
events  in  the  history  of  education  in  New  Jersey  of  which  he  was  once 
so  great  a  part. 

John  Whitehead  was  for  a  long  time  the  secretary  of  the  New  Jersey 
Society  of  Teachers  and  Friends  of  Education,  and  in  this  capacity 
he  visited  various  parts  of  the  State,  addressing  the  people  ujion  the 
importance  of  giving  to  their  cliildren  greater  advantages  of  instruc- 
tion. He  was  also  a  prominent  and  active  member  of  the  National 
Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Learning,  and  with  the  same  object  in 
view  served  also  as  one  of  the  county  examiners  in  Essex.  With  fac- 
ulties still  unimpaired,  he  is  writing  and  editing  works  on  historical 
topics,  and  this  does  not  allow  him  leisure  to  furnish  even  a  sketch  of 
the  movement  in  behalf  of  education  in  New  Jeisey  which  he  did  so 
much  to  shape  sixty  years  ago,  and  which  he  alone  of  the  men  now 
living  is  competent  to  describe.^ 

'John  AVbitehead  was  boru  iu  Jersey,  Ohio,  September  16,  1819.  He  was  the  sou 
of  Onesimiis,  who  was  the  son  of  Silas,  who  was  the  son  of  Ouesimus,  who  was  the  son 
of  Isaac,  tlic  ancestor  of  the  family  iu  New  Jersey.  His  mother's  maideu  name  was 
Pyreuus  Case.  He  early  returned  to  the  home  of  his  fathers,  and  began  the  practice 
of  law  iu  Newark  in  1810.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  Morristown,  where  he  had 
married,  iu  1843,  Catharine  A.  Mills.  He  still  continiies,  however,  his  oflBce  iu  New- 
ark, discharging  assiduously  his  duties  as  a  lawyer,  but  making  the  education  of  his 


166  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  century  the  i)liiase  "common  schools"  was 
becoming  a  misnomer.  From  the  beginning  there  had  been  endeavor, 
as  there  is  still,  to  realize  Jefferson's  idea  of  three  grades  of  instrnction. 
After  the  passage,  April  17,  1846,  of  the  act  to  establish  "public 
schools,"  this  term  more  and  more  took  the  ])lace  of  the  other. 

The  act  of  1846  was  a  great  advance  on  those  which  had  gone  before 
it.  Besides  other  important  improvements  it  authorized  the  trustees 
for  the  support  of  free  schools  to  appoint  a  State  superintendent  of 
public  schools.  At  first  his  jurisdiction  was  restricted  to  Essex  and 
Passaic  counties,  but  it  was  soon  extended  to  all  counties  of  which  the 
board  of  chosen  freeholders  should  express  desire  for  his  services. 

The  trustees  of  the  school  fund  did  not  have  far  to  seek  to  find  a 
competent  State  superintendent.  James  Parker  lived  at  Perth  Amboj', 
and  in  that  historic  little  city  lived  also  Theodore  F.  King,  M.  D.,  a 
gentleman  who  was  gladly  giving  of  his  time  and  his  money  and  his 
unusual  ability  to  forward  the  educational  movement  in  New  Jersey, 
as  he  had  done  before  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  He  jiroved  to  be  the  right 
man  in  the  right  place,  which  he  promptly  accepted,  though  the  com- 
pensation was  only  $S  per  day  for  each  day  spent  in  the  duties  of  his 
oflice,  and  this  was  to  be  i)aid  by  the  counties  which  might  choose  to 
come  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  in  the  proportion  of  the  school 
fund  allotted  them. 

March  3,  1848,  however,  in  order  to  carry  out  the  wise  provisions  of 
the  act  of  1846,  the  trustees  for  the  support  of  free  schools  were  author- 
ized to  pay  the  State  superintendent  $500  annually  "for  drawing 
reports,  postage,  traveling,  and  other  incidental  expenses  incurred  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office." 

The  first  report  of  the  State  superintendent  was  read  to  the  legis- 
lature February  15, 1847,  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 

In  it  he  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  State  normal  school  at 
some  future  but  not  far  distant  day;  spoke  of  the  importance  of  exami- 
nations of  teachers,  that  would  exclude  the  incompetent  and  immoral 
and  open  the  way  at  no  distant  period  for  a  class  of  teachers  such  as 
Jersey  children  should  have  and  Jersey  parents  procure,  and  cautioned 
against  a  too  rapid  advance  in  legislating  upon  educational  affairs. 
He  said : 

In  the  i)resent  awakened  and  excited  state  of  public  opinion  ui)on  the  subject  men 
are  everywhere  pressing  forward  with  views  as  diversified,  contradictory,  and  inhar- 
monious as  can  be  well  imagined. 

This  shows  the  great  interest  which  had  been  awakened,  as  well  as 
his  prudent  desire  to  make  haste  slowly.     His  wisdom  prevented  such 

fellow-citizens  his  lifelong  avocation.     The  establishment  of  the  Morristown  Library 
upon  a  firm  foundation  has  occupied  his  attention  of  late. 

In  1845,  when  the  public  schools  of  Newark  were  managed  by  a  school  committee, 
he  was  one  of  its  most  active  members.  He  was  secretary  of  the  first  board  of  edu- 
cation in  Newark  until  1855.  After  that  he  was  school  superintendent  of  the  alja- 
cent  township  of  Clinton  ^ov  four  years.  (See  the  Genealogical  Record  of  the  Condit 
Family,  pp.  390-392.) 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  167 

au  unfortunate  reaction  as  bad  taken  place  fifteen  years  before.  He 
served  in  this  office  until  the  year  1852,  and  established  firm  foundations 
upon  which  to  build  for  all  future  time.' 

In  1847  many  religious  people  became  alarmed  at  the  tendency  to 
make  the  public  schools  purely  secular,  fearing  the  effect  of  a  lack  of 
religious  instruction,  and  pronouncing  in  favor  of  parochial  schools 
under  ecclesiastical  sui)ervision.  Foremost  among  these  was  Bishop 
G.  W.  Doane,  the  founder  of  the  well-known  church  schools  at  Burling- 
ton, whose  ecclesiastical  ])rinciples  were  undergoing  logical  development. 
Of  his  eloquent  address  in  behalf  of  popular  education  in  1838  (herein- 
before mentioned),  his  son  and  biographer  writes:  ''My  father's  name 
would  never  have  been  signed  to  this  in  1858."  Nevertheless,  in  1857 
the  bishop  heartily  seconded  the  endeavor  of  the  agent  of  the  New 
Jersey  State  Teachers'  Association  (who  explained  to  him  that  he  was 
carrying  out  the  suggestions  of  this  address)  to  organize  a  teachers' 
institute  in  Burlington,  under  the  State  law;  and  in  the  last  annual 
convocation  over  which  he  presided  "  declared  that  he  stood  by  every 
word  of  that  address."  The  consequence  was  that  the  movement  to 
commit  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  New  Jersey  "  to  the  exclu- 
sive support  of  parochial  schools  in  opposition  to  the  common  schools 
fell  to  the  ground."^ 

Perhaps  even  then  the  good  bishop  was  beginning  to  foresee  what 
recent  events  have  made  obvious  to  us  all — that  it  will  require  the 
efforts  of  all  good  men  in  both  civil  and  religious  organizations  to 
secure  the  education  necessary  for  all  our  people  if  our  liberties  are  to 
be  transmitted  to  our  children  and  to  our  children's  children,  genera- 
tion after  generation.  So  strong,  however,  at  that  time,  was  the  feehiig 
in  favor  of  ])aiochial  rather  than  of  public  schools,  that  the  Hon. 
Lucius  Quintus  Cincinnatus  Elmer,  of  Bridgeton,  one  of  the  best- 
known  public-spirited  citizens  of  the  State,  who  had  been  on  the  com- 
mittee of  1838  with  Bishop  Doane,  thought  it  wise  to  address  "  to  the 
governor  of  New  Jersey"  a  printed  letter  of  10  pages  in  fiivor  of 
public  rather  than  parochial  schools.  Happily,  experience  is  showing 
in  New  Jersey,  as  elsewhere,  that  specifically  religious  education  can 

'  Theodore  Frederick  King  was  an  elder  son  of  the  Hon.  Elisha  W.  King  and  his 
wife,  Margaret  Kowenhoven  Vandervoort,  of  New  York.  He  was  born  in  that  city 
September  12, 1802;  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in  1822,  and  from  the  Bellevue 
Medical  College  in  1824.  He  married,  May  1,  1829,  Sarah  Ann,  daughter  of  Col. 
Robert  Arnold  and  his  wife,  Grace  Coddington.  They  settled  near  his  father's 
country  seat  at  New  Rochelle,  whence  they  afterwards  removed  tirst  to  Brooklyn 
and  then,  in  1843,  to  Perth  Amboy.  (Letter  from  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Thomas  Hicks.) 
Dr.  King  was  a  man  of  rare  intelligence,  tact,  and  personal  magnetism.  He  used 
all  these,  as  well  as  his  ample  means  and  leisure,  for  promoting  the  education  of  his 
fellows.  When  the  work  in  New  Jersey  had  been  placed  upon  a  secure  basis  he 
returned  to  Brooklyn  in  1854,  where  he  ended  his  altruistic  life  September  3,  1868, 
leaving  four  children  to  revere  his  memory.  The  silver  i)itchers  presented  to  him 
by  the  teachers  of  New  .Jersey,  in  token  of  their  appreciation  of  his  self-denying 
efforts  in  behalf  of  popular  education,  are  still  valued  by  his  descendants. 

^Proceedings  N.  J.  Historical  Society,  1871,  p.  123. 


168  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

safely  be  left  to  voluntary  effort,  and  that  industrial  and  ethical  as  well 
as  intellectual  culture  can  properly  and  profitably  be  made  a  part  of 
tlie  duty  of  public  school  teachers. 
In  his  report  of  the  year  1848  the  State  superiutendent  says: 

lu  most  of  the  couuties  of  the  State  county  associations  liave  been  formed  for  the 
promotion  of  public  school  education,  composed  of  the  teachers  and  friends  of  edu- 
cation in  the  respective  counties.  At  these  associations,  whose  meetings  are  generally 
quarterly,  subjects  of  interest  to  the  teacher  and  the  parent  are  introduced  and 
methods  of  instructing  and  imparting  information  communicated,  and  other  mat- 
ters of  importance  to  all  discussed.  The  present  governor  of  our  State  is  an  active 
member  and  president  of  the  Sussex  County  Association.' 

At  this  time  the  Rev.  Abraham  Messier,  D.  D.,  and  Christopher 
Columbus  Hoagland,  M.  D.,  constituted  "the  board  of  examiners  and 
visitors"  in  the  county  of  Somerset.  Dr.  Messier  was  always  an  earn- 
est friend  of  education.  Dr.  Hoagland  had  had  experience  as  a  teacher 
and  understood  the  need  of  reform.  He  may  be  regarded  as  at  that 
time  the  principal  worker  to  this  end.  At  his  instigation  two  meetings 
of  the  town  superintendents  of  Somerset  were  held  during  the  year 
1848.  At  one  of  these  they  passed  a  resolution  (undoubtedly  prepared 
by  Dr.  Hoagland) — 

That  the  State  suijerinteudent  be  requested  to  publish  in  his  annual  report  such 
extended  abstracts  from  the  reports  of  the  town  superintendents  as  in  his  opinion 
would  be  likely  to  promote  the  cause  of  our  schools. 

To  this  request  the  State  superintendent  readily  assented,  and  this 
excellent  means  of  collecting  and  disseminating  information  has  been 
continued  from  that  day  to  this. 

In  the  year  1849  Dr.  Hoagland  was  himself  the  superintendent  of  the 
township  of  Hillsboro,  in  Somerset,  of  which  county  he  had  been  for 
several  years  one  of  the  county  examiners.  In  his  report  for  this  year 
he  said : 

Friim  the  examination  of  nearly  300  teachers,  we  had  occasion  to  observe  that 
wliile  many  were  extremely  defective  in  elemental  knowledge,  and  depended,  in 
their  attempts  to  instruct,  upon  the  text-book  in  their  own  hands,  a  far  greater 
number  were  almost  unaware  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  tact  in  teaching,  sup- 
posing that  to  keep  tolerable  order  in  school  by  a  salutary  fear  of  the  rod,  to  hear  a 
(lass  read  a  given  number  of  times  in  a  day,  to  help  a  pupil  do  a  sum  in  arithmetic, 
to  hear  a  lesson  imperfectly  recited  in  geography,  and  to  keep  a  writing  book  pass- 
ably clear  of  blots,  make  up  the  sum  total  of  a  man's  claim  to  be  considered  a  good 
teacher.  Not  one  in  fifty  liad  r.-ad  any  book  or  treatise  on  the  art  and  science  of 
teaching,  aud  many  had  never  heard  that  there  were  any  such  works  in  existence. 

To  remedy  this  as  far  as  i)ossible,  after  consultation  with  State  Super- 
intendent King,  Dr.  Hoagland  arranged  for  a  teachers'  institute,  which 
\\  as  held  in  the  courthouse  at  Somerville,  June  8-13, 1849.  By  articles 
in  the  county  papers,  by  letters  to  town  superintendents  and  others,  and 
by  personal  visits,  he  succeeded  in  securing  an  attendance  of  about 
thirty  teachers.    This  was  the  first  teachers'  institute  in  the  State,  and 


'  Charles  C.  Stratton,  of  Sussex,  was  goveruor  from  ISi;")  to  1848. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  169 

was  felt  to  be  the  begiuuing  of  better  things  to  come.  The  conductors 
were  Charles  W.  Sanders,  author  of  the  well-known  series  of  school 
readers,  and  his  brother,  eToshua  C.  Sanders,  both  teachers  of  experi- 
ence. 

When  all  the  members  of  the  institute  who  had  chosen  teaching  as 
the  business  of  their  lives  were  asked  to  stand  up,  only  two  of  the 
thirty  rose  to  their  feet.  One  of  these  was  a  young  man  who  had 
walked  14  miles  in  order  to  be  present.  (As  might  have  been  expected, 
he  afterwards  became  one  of  the  instructors  in  the  State  Normal  School.' ) 
The  other  was  the  writer  of  this  paper. 

The  State  superintendent  this  year  made  a  strong  appeal  for  better 
schoolhouses,  and  (with  the  consent  of  the  author)  appended  to  his 
report  32  pages  of  the  work  on  school  architecture  by  the  Hon,  Henry 
Barnard,  at  that  time  commissioner  of  public  schools  in  Rhode  Island. 

During  the  year  1849  John  H.  Phillips,  M.  ]).,  was  superintendent  of 
pnblic  schools  in  the  township  of  Ho])ewell,  in  Mercer  County.  In  his 
report  to  the  State  superintendent  he  lamented  the  lack  of  improve- 
ment in  the  condition  of  the  schools,  declared  that  improvement  could 
come  only  from  an  interest  among  the  people,  and  that  this  interest 
could  be  developed  only  by  the  strenuous  and  well-directed  efforts  of 
the  friends  of  education.     He  added: 

Wheu  they  shall  be  seen  entering  spiritedly  into  its  interests,  when  their  voices 
shall  be  heard  not  only  iu  the  halls  of  legislation  but  in  those  of  business  as  well 
as  in  the  social  circle,  and  when  their  influence  shall  everywhere  be  felt,  then,  and 
not  till  then,  will  this  great  work  be  accomplished.     *     *     * 

Let  us  do  just  what  is  done  to  remedy  the  consequences  of  ignorance  and  quack- 
ery on  every  other  subject — educate  men  for  the  business  of  teaching  and  pay  them 
when  educated.  Not  only  let  teachers  be  better  educated,  but  let  a  knowledge  of 
our  State  and  Federal  Constitution,  together  with  a  knowledge  of  political  econ- 
omy, natural  ]ihil(>so])hy,  and  some  of  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics,  be 
required  of  those  to  whom  th<'  management  of  our  schools  is  intrusted,  etc. 

These  words  have  not  yet  had  their  due  effect,  though  Dr.  Phillips 
ere  long  had  opportunity  to  reiterate  them  from  a  better  vantage 
ground. 

In  the  year  1851  the  Somerset  County  Teachers'  Association,  stim- 
ulated by  Dr.  Hoagland's  energy,  resolved  to  hold  a  teachers'  institute 
at  the  county  seat  during  the  lirst  complete  week  in  November.  As  a 
member  of  the  committee  of  the  association,  much  of  the  work  fell  to 
me.  The  advice  of  Henry  Barnard  was  freely  given,  and  was  most 
helpful.  His  letters  and  those  of  other  helpers  are  before  me  as  I 
write.  Horace  Mann  was  unable  to  attend,  but  his  sister-in-law,  Miss 
Elizabeth  Palmer  Peabody,  came  to  show  us  how  to  teach  history.^ 

'  His  name  was  Myron  H.  Doolittle. 

-About  this  time  I  Avas  in  correspondence  with  Charles  C.  Rafn,  secretary  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries,  at  Copenhagen,  respecting  the  ante-Colum- 
bian history  of  America.  As  a  result  of  this  correspondence,  he  prepared  (from  his 
large  Aniiquitates  Americanw)  a  brief  sketch  of  this  history,  had  it  printed  in  the 
form  of  a  leaflet,  and  sent  it  to  me  for  use  in  schools,  or  in  the  compilation  of  school 
books.  It  was  sent  also  to  the  New  .Jersey  Historical  Society,  and  was  printed  in 
its  Proceedings  for  the  year  1853  (pp.  166-168);  but  the  facts  therein  stated  are  not 
even  yet  generallj'  taught  in  our  schools. 


170  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  conductors  of  tlie  institute  were  David  K.  Camp,  principal  of 
the  State  Normal  School  of  Connecticut,  and  William  B.  Fowle,  editor 
with  Horace  Mann  for  many  years  of  the  Massachusetts  Common 
School  Journal.  The  evening  lectures  were  by  Horace  Greeley,  Henry 
Barnard,  Bobert  Davidson,  D.  D.,  David  .K  Camp,  and  J.  N.  McElli- 
gott.  State  Superintendent  King  and  Governor  George  F.  Fort  came 
aud  spoke  words  of  encouragement.  There  were  more  than  seventy 
teachers  in  attendance,  all  of  whom  were  hospitably  entertained  during 
the  week  by  the  citizens  of  Somerville.  Great  enthusiasm  was  mani- 
fested, and  great  good  accomplished.  All  present  felt  the  uplift,  and 
seemed  to  recognize  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  in  educational  affairs 
in  New  Jersey.  The  influence  of  this  institute  spread  throughout  the 
State  and  prepared  the  way  for  greater  things  to  come. 

In  1852  Dr.  John  H.  Phillips  was  made  State  superintendent  of  pub- 
lic schools,  and  held  the  office  for  nine  years,  discharging  its  duties,  at 
the  meager  salary  of  $500  a  year,  with  a  devotion  and  conscientious- 
ness unsurpassed  by  any  of  his  successors.'  "^ 

October  20,  1853,  at  the  call  of  State  Superintendent  Phillips,  an 
educational  convention  was  held  in  Temi)erance  Hall,  in  the  city  of 
Trenton.  The  Hon.  George  F.  Fort,  the  governor  of  the  State,  presided. 
Dr.  C.  C,  Hoagland  and  Dr.  Stephen  N.  Cougar  were  vice-presidents. 
The  committee  on  resolutions  consisted  of  David  Cole  (then  princii)al 
of  the  Trenton  Academy),  H.  Goodwin,  J.  Sandford  Smith,  J.  J.  P>aker, 
and  O.  A.  Kibbe.  The  resolutions,  written  by  Principal  Cole,  were 
discussed  and  amended  and  adopted,  and  published  throughout  the 
State. 

The  secretary  of  the  convention  was  Isaiah  Peckham,  superintendent 
of  the  industrial  schools  in  Newark,  and  editor  of  the  Literary  Stand- 
ard, a  weekly  pajier,  which  the  convention  recognized  as  the  educa- 
tional organ  of  New  Jersey.- 

'  .John  H.  Phillips  was  bom  iu  Hopewell  Township,  in  Mercer  Connty,  and  spent  in 
it  twcnty-threo  years  of  the  most  laborious  country  practice^  as  a  physician.  He 
received  his  medical  education  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  graduated 
in  1838.  He  immediately  commenced  practice  at  Tayloraville,  Pa.,  but  8ub8e(iuently 
removed  to  Pennington,  N.  J.,  where  he  spent  the  major  part  of  his  manhood.  At 
the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  volunteers  and 
assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  brevetted 
lieutenant-colonel  of  volunteers.  He  died  at  Beverly,  March  1,  1878,  aged  64  years. 
He  never  lost  his  interest  in  popular  education,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  a 
trustee  of  the  school  at  Beverly  built  and  endowed  by  Mr.  Paul  Farnum  to  serve  as 
preparatory  and  auxiliary  to  the  normal  school  at  Trenton.  (Letter  from  his  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Emily  V.  .Street.) 

-Isaiah  Peckham  was  born  Novt-mber  i),  1823,  near  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  of  New 
England  iiarentage.  On  his  seven tc^enth  birtbday  he  assumed  the  charge  of  a  large 
district  school,  in  which  he  was  successful,  and  after  teaching  four  terms  in  his 
native  State  removed  to  New  Jersey,  aud  taught  one  year  in  Irvington.  After- 
wards he  was  appointed  principal  of  the  Lock  Street  Public  Grammar  School  of 
Newark,  and  held  the  position  for  about  five  years,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the 
superintendeucy  of  the  "Newark  industrial  schools,"  which  he  organized.     He  was 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  171 

The  resolutions  adopted  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  status  of  educational 
afl'airs  in  Xew  Jersey  at  that  time.     They  are  as  follows: 

liesolved,  I.  That  it  is  tlie  duty  of  the  State  to  make  liberal  provision  for  general 
edncation;  its  laws  on  that  subject  should  be  so  amended  as  to  make  education  not 
only  general,  but  also  free. 

2.  That  in  order  to  promote  that  object  it  is  essential  to  secure  the  cooperation  of 
the  people,  the  teachers,  and  friends  of  education  throughout  the  State;  and  we 
therefore  recommend  the  organization  of  associations  of  teachers  and  friends  of 
education  in  every  town  and  county  of  the  State. 

3.  That  we  believe  that  the  time  and  efforts  of  the  State  superintendent  should  be 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  that  he  should  receive  a  compen- 
sation of  not  less  than  $1,500. 

4.  That  we  regard  the  subject  of  providing  competent  teachers  as  a  most  impor- 
tant consideration  affecting  the  prosperity,  efficiency,  and  success  of  our  common 
school  system,  and  believe  that  all  efforts  to  improve  their  character  and  increase 
their  usefulness  can  be  attended  with  only  partial  success  while  that  defect 
remains. 

5.  That  teachers'  institutes  are  justly  regarded  as  a  powerful  instrumentality  in 
the  accomplishment  of  this  object,  and  should  receive  that  aid  and  encouragement 
which  their  importance  in  the  economy  of  our  system  demands,  and  that  $100 
should  be  annually  appropriated  to  each  county  for  their  support,  under  such  regu- 
lations as  the  legislature  may  adopt. 

6.  That  we  recommend  an  annual  apj  ropriation  of  $15  to  each  school  district  in 
the  State  for  the  purchase  of  district  libraries,  on  condition  that  the  district  will 
raise  an  equal  amount  for  the  same  purpose. 

7.  That  an  educational  j(uirnal  is  much  needed  in  New  Jersey  to  spread  informa- 
tion among  the  people,  and  to  promote  in  various  ways  the  cause  of  common  school 
education. 

A  committee,  consisting^  of  David  Cole,  David  Naar,  Christopher 
Columbus  Hoaglaud,  J.  Saudford  Smith,  and  Nathan  Hedges,  was 
appointed  to  present  these  resolutions  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  State 
legislature.  Judge  Naar  suggested  the  propriety  of  presenting  to  the 
peoide  of  the  State  an  address  on  the  subject  of  education,  and  volun- 
teered to  print  a  thousand  copies  of  such  an  address  gratuitously. 
C.  C.  Hoagland,  John  B.  Thompson,  and  William  H.  Van  Nortwick 
were  ai)pointed  to  prei)are  such  an  address. 

The  address  was  written  by  Dr.  Hoaglaud,  and  is  the  most  direct, 
plain,  and  practical  of  the  many  addresses  of  this  kind.  Advocat- 
ing free  schools  and  defining  the  term,  it  showed  also  the  need  of  a 
salary  sutticieut  to  enable  the  State  superintendent  to  devote  all  his 

also  editor  of  the  Now  Jersey  department  of  the  New  York  Teacher.  When  the 
Newark Puldic  High  School  was  established  he  was  unanimously  elected  as  the  lirst 
principal,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  jjosition  in  January,  1855.  In  the 
April  following,  a  Saturday  Normal  School  was  established  in  Newark,  of  which  also 
he  became  principal.  He  was  very  active  (with  others  above  named)  in  securing  a 
normal  school  for  the  State,  and  teachers'  institutes  for  the  several  counties.  After 
the  latter  were  inaugurated,  his  summer  vacations  were  largely  occupied  in  institute 
work.  In  July,  1866,  he  resigned  the  principalship  of  the  Newark  High  School  and 
Saturday  Normal  School,  and  entered  upon  the  insurance  business,  in  which  he  is 
still  engaged.  The  honorary  degree  of  master  of  arts  was  bestowed  upon  him  by 
Lewisburg  I'liiversity  in  1856. 


172  HISTOKY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

time  to  the  duties  of  bis  office.  It  explained  the  importance  of  more 
accurate  statistics;  advocated  teachers'  institutes  aud  a  journal  of 
education;  discussed  the  removal  of  the  legal  restrictions  ui^on  the 
raising  of  money  for  educational  purposes,  and  concluded  with  an 
appeal  to  the  people  to  "infuse  more  and  more  vigor  into  the  whole 
movement  and  carry  it  forward  to  results  that  will  surprise  and  cheer 
every  friend  of  liis  country."  The  address  was  printed  and  widely 
circulated. 

February  9,  1854,  according  to  directions,  the  committee  appointed 
for  the  purpose  secured  the  assembly  room  in  the  statehouse  at 
Trenton  for  a  public  meeting  at  which  to  present  to  the  legislators  the 
resolutions  of  the  convention,  both  houses  of  the  legislature  adjourn- 
ing to  attend  the  meeting.  Governor  liodman  M.  Price  was  chosen 
president  and  David  Naar  secretary.  Tiie  object  of  the  meeting  was 
stated  by  tlie  chaiiiuan  of  the  committee,  and  the  tirst  address  was 
made  by  .1.  Sandfoid  Smith,  of  Essex.  lie  stated  as  the  text  of  his 
argument — 

That  the  improvement  and  perfection  of  the  ]>nblic  school  system  is  the  great 
want  of  the  State  of  Now  .lersey;  upon  which  theuu-  he  made  a  very  elocinent  and 
interi'sting  address. 

John  B.  Thompson,  of  Hnnterdon,  next  spoke  in  reference  to  the  proj)riety  and 
necessity  of  teachers'  institutes  with  great  etl'ect. 

David  Cole,  of  Trenton,  made  an  interesting  aud  enthusiastic  address  in  favor  of 
the  general  cause  of  education,  in  relation  to  a  change  in  the  law  with  respect  to  the 
examiners  and  licensers  of  teachers,  and  in  allusion  to  the  necessity  of  sufficient 
compensation  to  the  State  superintendent,  whose  varied  necessary  qualilications 
were  forcibly  described.' 

The  effect  of  this  meeting  with  the  members  of  the  legislature  was 
excellent,  and  a  few  days  later  the  law  establishing  teachers'  institutes 
was  passed. 

The  teachers  present  at  the  October  convention  in  tliat  year  had 
issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  to  organize  a  State  Teachers'  Association, 
December  28,  1853,  in  response  to  this  call,  a  body  of  enthusiastic 
teachers  assembled  in  the  then  recently  cre(;ted  i>ublic  school  building 
on  Bayard  street,  in  New  Brunswick.  Nathan  Hedges,  of  Newark, 
was  made  president  of  the  meeting;  liobert  L.Cooke,  ot  Bloonifield, 
vice-president,  aud  John  T.  Clark,  principal  of  the  New  Brunswick 
school,  secretary.  The  New  Jersey  State  Teachers'  Association  Avas 
then  formally  organized  by  the  adoption  of  a  constitution.  The  pre- 
amble stated  that — 

The  teachers  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  regarding  themselves  as  responsible 
agents  for  conducting  the  educational  system,  and  feeling  in  some  degree  the  weight 
of  responsibility  resting  upon  them,  aud  persuaded  that  union  of  feeling  and  con- 
cert of  action  would  greatly  assist  them  in  bearing  the  responsibility,  do  hereby 
agree  to  form  themselves  into  an  association  to  be  governed  by  the  following 
constitution. 

^  1  Trenton  True  American,  of  February  10,  1854. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  173 

From  that  day  to  this  the  association  has  held  annual  meetings,  and 
no  other  State  educational  convention  has  been  called.  The  subjects 
discussed  at  this  meeting  were  important,  and  the  discussions  animated. 
All  felt  that  an  important  step  had  been  taken  in  the  educational 
affairs  of  New  Jersey.  Among  the  resolutions  adopted  was  one  declar- 
ing''that  the  othce  of  State  superintendent  of  public  schools  in  this 
State  should  be  filled  only  by  a  practical  teacher." 

It  was  also  resolved,  at  this  meeting  that  a  premium  of  $20  should  be 
offered  for  the  best  essay  "on  the  necessity  and  means  of  advancing 
the  interests  of  common  school  education  in  New  Jersey."  Dr.  Phil- 
lips, State  superintendent  of  public  schools,  immediately  laid  upon  the 
table  in  gold  the  amount  of  money  thus  designated  as  a  premium. 
Robert  L.  Cooke,  David  (Jole,  and  C.  C,  Hoagland  were  appointed  a 
committee  of  award.  Robert  L.  Cooke  was  chosen  as  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  New  Jersey  State  Teachers'  Association.' 

January  IS  and  19,  1855,  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jer- 
sey State  Teachers'  Association  was  held  in  Trenton,  when  an  admira- 
ble address  was  delivered  by  the  retiring  president,  and  it  was  decided 
that  the  association  should  be  represented  throughout  the  State  by  an 
agent  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  secure  as  far  as  possible  the  establish- 
ment of  teachers'  institutes,  and  in  every  proi^er  practicable  way  labor 
for  the  establishment  of  a  normal  school,  and  the  furthei'ance  of  popu- 
lar education  generally.  Dr.  Christopher  Columbus  Hoagland  was 
unanimously  elected  State  agent. 

At  this  meeting  the  committee  of  award  reported  that  they  had 
selected,  as  worthy  of  the  j^remium  oflered  a  year  before,  the  essay  by 
Mr.  John  T.  Clark.  The  essay  was  read  before  the  association, 
approved,  and  ordered  to  be  printed  by  a  committee  consisting  of  C.  C. 
Hoagland  aiul  John  B.  Thompson.  The  committee  collected  the  money 
necessary  for  the  purpose,  had  the  essay  printed,  and  distributed 
throughout  the  State.     Undoubtedly  it  did  great  good. 

Among  the  men  chiefly  instrumental  in  the  educational  revival 
between  1850  and  1800,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  nor- 
mal school,  and  ultimately  in  the  present  system  of  free  public  schools, 

'  Robert  Latimer  Cooke  was  born  at  Willistou,  Vt.,  Juue  27,  1809.  At  14  years  of 
age  he  entered  Middlebury  College.  After  graduating  he  studied  law,  but  afterwards 
aljandoned  his  profession  for  that  of  a  teacher,  in  which  he  was  eminently  success- 
ful, first  at  Princeton,  and  afterwards  in  Virginia.  In  1837  he  joined  his  mother, 
Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Cooke,  in  her  famous  school  at  Bloomtield.     (See  p.  147.) 

A  gentleman  of  esthetic  tastes,  of  culture  and  refinement,  he  went  from  place  to 
l>lace  to  plead  for  greater  advantages  of  education  for  the  young;  and  his  quiet 
altruism  was  very  ettective.  He  was  secretary  of  the  General  Educational  Society,  of 
which  Professor  Henry,  Bishop  Alonzo  Potter,  and  others  were  niemlxTS.  When  the 
Bloomfield  school  was  discontinued,  Mr.  Cooke  became  a  tojiographical  engineer. 
He  was  connected  with  the  department  of  public  jjarks  of  the  city  of  New  York 
when  he  was  drowned,  at  the  upsetting  of  a  pleasure  boat  by  a  tidal  wave  oft"  Fire 
Island,  August  11, 1877.     (Letter  from  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Louise  C.  Redfield.) 


174  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

the  iiainc  that  must  always  be  mentioned  first  is  that  of  Christopher 
Columbus  Hoagland.'  Not  always  prudent  in  his  methods,  he  was  the 
most  zealous  and  persistent  of  the  educational  reformers  of  the  day. 
He  was  acquainted  with  the  working  of  the  normal  school  at  Albany 
from  personal  inspection ;  he  understood  and  appreciated  the  methods 
of  the  lamented  David  P.  Page,  the  excellent  principal  of  that  school; 
he  had  familiarized  himself  more  or  less  also  with  similar  institutions 
in  the  New  England  States,  and  he  devoted  his  energies  to  the  endeavor 
to  secure  equal  educational  advantages  for  the  people  of  New  Jersey. 
To  this  end  he  held  freciuent  conferences  with  the  Hon.  Eichard  S. 
Field,  and,  the  time  seeming  ripe,  a  forward  movement  was  begun. 

Richard  S.  Field  had  long  been  devoted  to  popular  education.  It 
was  probably  he  who,  as  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  school  fund,  wrote 
the  admirable  report  of  that  board  so  early  as  the  year  1839.  It  was 
he  who,  by  reading  in  convocation  the  extract  from  Bishop  Doane's 
address  in  behalf  of  public  schools,  put  a  quietus  to  tlie  movement  to 
commit  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  New  Jersey  to  the  support 
of  parochial  in  opposition  to  public  schools. 

He  was  deeply  versed  in  political  history  aud  economy.  He  was  fully  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  free  government,  and,  with  the  broad  comprehension  that  was 
characteristic  of  his  mind,  he  knew  that  the  true  safe+y  of  the  State,  the  only 
guarantee  for  the  success  of  popular  government,  was  the  education  of  the  people. 
He  had  a  high  regard  for  our  constitution  and  a  deep  interest  in  the  course  of  legis- 
lation, but  lie  felt  that  the  wisest  constitutional  safeguards  and  the  best  laws  must 
be  powerless  and  transitory  if  the  people  were  left  in  ignorance.  Ami  lie  knew  and 
urged,  long  before  it  was  made  a  part  of  our  State  system,  that  in  order  to  educate 
the  people  wo  must  teach  the  teachers,  and  hence  his  faithful  devotion  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  State  normal  school. - 

He  was  the  president  of  its  board  of  trustees  from  Hs  organization, 
April  L*4,  1855,  to  his  death.  May  !i5,  1867.  During  that  period  every 
one  of  the  annual  reports  was  written  by  him. 

David  Cole  had  been  a  teacher  from  his  graduation  from  Kutgers 
College  in  1842.     No  man  was  ever  more  enthusiastic  than  he  in  his 

'  Christoither  Columbus  Hoaglaud  was  born  near  Griggstown,  in  Somerset  County, 
May  17,  1810;  graduated  at  Rutgers  College  in  1828,  and  at  the  medical  department 
of  Yak-  College  in  1832.  He  first  located  at  Catskill,  N.  Y.  In  1836  he  removed  to 
Readington,  and  ocenpie<l  the  farm  and  former  residence  of  Dr.  Jacob  Jennings, 
but  did  not  succeed  well,  either  as  a  farmer  or  physician.  In  1840  he  removed  to 
Harlingen,  and  afterward  to  the  town  of  Henry,  in  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  the  mill- 
ing business,  which  he  soon  left  in  care  of  his  sons,  and  liecame  State  agent  for  the 
American  Bible  Society  in  southern  Iowa,  which  jiositiou  he  occiqiied  until  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  suddenly  on  his  field  of  labor,  March  19, 1869.  He  was 
a  warm-hearted  Christian,  and  had  he  lieeii  iirojierly  educated  for  his  duties  would 
have  made  a  better  ]ireacher  than  i»hysiciaii.  (Medical  History  of  Hunterdon 
County,  by  John  Blaue,  M.  1).,  ]>.  90.)  On  his  removal  from  New  Jersey  the  teach- 
ers of  the  State  jiresented  him  a  watch  with  suitable  inscription  as  evidence  of  their 
appreciation  of  his  untiring  energy  in  their  l)ehalf. 

-  Memoir  of  Richard  S.  Field,  by  Anthony  Q.  Keasbey,  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
N. .).  Historical  Society  for  1871,  pp.  122, 123. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  175 

])rofessioii,  and  lie  threw  himself  into  the  new  movement  with  charac- 
teiistic  zeal.  He  took  special  interest  in  the  project  to  establish  a 
normal  school,  and,  being  on  the  ground,  had  great  opijortuuities 
(which  he  used  wisely  and  efhciently)  with  members  of  the  legislature. 

In  1855  he  became  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  trustees,  where 
his  experience  as  a  teacher  was  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  his  asso- 
ciates. His  address  at  the  coinmencement  of  the  Farnum  Preparatory 
School  in  Beverly  ui)on  the  "Aims  of  the  Normal  School  of  New 
Jersey,"  was  an  admirable  statement  of  what  a  normal  school  ought 
to  be.'  When  it  was  proposed  to  establish  a  so-called  '••  model  school" 
for  secondary  education,  he  clearly  foresaw  that  it  would  weaken  and 
ultimately  destroy  the  Trenton  Academy  which  he  had  built  up;  but 
he  did  not  flinch.  Of  all  those  concerned  in  the  establishment  of  the 
State  schools  no  one  sacrificed  more  upon  the  success  of  the  move- 
ment than  David  Cole.  Sei)tember  1,  1857,  he  resigned  the  principal- 
ship  of  the  academy  and  accepted  a  subordinate  position  as  classical 
teacher  in  the  model  school.  Here  he  worked  as  enthusiastically  as 
ever  until  his  health  gave  way,  when  his  place  was  supplied  tempo- 
rarily by  his  friend  and  former  associate,  John  B.  Thompson.  Recov- 
ering his  health,  he  resumed  his  position  as  professor  of  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages;  but  oidy  for  a  time.  When  there  was  developed  in 
the  management  of  the  institutions  an  element  offensive  to  right- 
minded  i)eople,  he  withdrew  his  confidence  from  it  (and  was  followed 
in  this  resi)ect  by  the  State  superintendent,  and  ultimately  by  the 
State  ;\gent  also),  until  the  evil  was  remedied.  He  had  always  been  a 
student  since  his  graduation  from  college,  and  it  was  not  difficult  for 
him,  while  doing  his  full  duty  as  a  teacher,  to  jjrepare  himself  for  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel.  He  was  licensed  as  a  preacher  while  still  a 
teacher  in  the  model  school. ' 

David  Naar  is  another  name  which  the  people  of  New  Jersey  should 
have  in  everlasting  remembrance.  Proprietor  of  the  True  American 
and  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  most  powerful  i)olitical  party  of 
the  State,  he  used  all  the  weight  of  both  his  political  and  personal 
influence  to  forward  the  educational  movements  of  the  day.  Naturally 
a  ready  and  popular  speaker,  he  possessed  a  remarkable  talent  for 
foreseeing  the  ultimate  as   well   as  the  immediate  effect  of  public 

'  Printed  iu  Barnard's  Journal  of  Education, 

-'  David  Cole  was  born  at  Spring  Valley,  X.  Y.,  September  22,  1822.  He  received 
his  preparatory  training  from  notably  thorough  teachers,  and  was  graduated  from 
Rutgers  College  in  July,  1842.  Entering  at  once  upon  teaching  as  a  jirofession,  he 
taught  i>rivately  till  Se])tember  1,  1851,  when  he  became  principal  of  the  Trenton 
Academy  (see  p.  127).  On  the  2od  of  November,  1858,  he  was  ordained  and  installed 
jiastor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  East  ]Millstone,  N.  J.  In  March,  1863,  he 
became,  professor  of  Greek  in  Rutgers  College.  On  the  10th  of  January,  1866,  he 
was  installed  i)a8tor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  (now  the  First  Reformed)  Church  of 
Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  which  ])ositiou  he  resigned  August  31,  1897.  He  still  dwells  serenely 
among  the  people  to  whom  he  so  long  miuistered. 


176  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATIOX    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

measures.  Hence  be  threw  liimself  witli  all  his  energy  into  the  effort 
to  provide  for  the  future  of  the  Kepublic  by  the  education  of  the  people. 
He  was  for  many  years  an  active  member  of  the  school  board  of  the 
city  of  Trenton,  where  his  counsels  were  as  wise  as  they  were  in  the 
conclaves  of  his  political  party. 

Rising  high  above  all  selfish  considerations,  it  was  owing  more  to  his 
influence  than  to  that  of  any  other  one  man  that  educational  affairs  in 
New  Jersey  were  kept  entirely  aloof  from  the  corrupting  influences  of 
party  politics,  and  that  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Normal  School  and 
the  State  Board  of  Education  were  thoroughly  nonpartisan  so  long  as 
he  lived.' 

Joseph  Thompson  was  also  a  man  of  wide  influence,  especially  in  the 
counties  of  Hunterdon  and  Somerset.  He  was  for  many  years  a  teacher, 
and  always  gladly  did  all  he  could  to  further  the  educational  move- 
ments of  the  day.- 

Once  he  accepted  the  office  of  superintendent  of  schools  in  the  town- 
ship of  Eeadington,  in  the  county  of  Hunterdon,  and  discharged  its 
duties  with  characterisvic  energy.  On  the  22d  day  of  August,  1855,  he 
gathered  the  inhabitants  of  the  twelve  school  districts  under  his  super- 
vision, with  music  and  banners,  to  a  mass  meeting  in  the  woods  near 
the  center  of  the  township.  Addresses  were  made  by  Dr.  Hoagland, 
State  Superintendent  Phillips,  Judge  Naar,  Governor  Price,  Attorney- 
General  Richard  P.  Thompson,  Principal  William  F.  Phelps,  Peter  I. 

'  David  Naar  was  born  ou  the  island  of  St.  Thomas,  NovemV)er  10,  1800,  and  died 
in  Trenton,  Fel)iuary  5,  1880. 

-Joseph  Thompson  was  born  September  30,  1808,  in  his  father's  house  at  '"The 
Biookye"  (to  which  he  gave  its  present  name  of  Pleasant  Run),  and  here  he  livod 
until  he  bought  the  farm  which  had  belonged  to  his  wife's  grandfather,  the  revolu- 
tionary patriot,  Abraham  Post.  He  wrought  at  the  loom  when  a  young  man,  and 
purchased,  with  the  proceeds  of  his  toil,  books  whicJi  were  diligently  studied.  He 
taught  district  schools  in  various  places,  as  at  Centerville,  White  House,  Keading- 
ton.  North  Branch,  etc.  He  married  at  21;  farmed  during  the  summer;  taught 
school  in  the  winter;  surveyed  in  all  seasons,  and  in  1837  removed  to  the  homestead 
on  the  border  of  Hunterdon  and  Somerset  counties,  where  for  tifty-six  years  he  li\  ed 
a  useful  and  honorable  life. 

Judge  Thompson  had  both  physical  and  mental  vigor,  unusual  in  one  of  his 
ordinary  school  attainments.  He  thought  for  himself,  but  acted  mainly  for  others. 
When  28  yttars  of  age  he  became  associated  with  his  father  as  judge  of  the  Hunterdon 
(,'ourt,  and  held  that  position  lor  fifteen  years,  when,  the  house  he  then  occupied  being 
on  the  Somerset  county  side  of  the  line,  he  again  held  in  Somerset  the  same  position 
for  thirteen  years,  and  no  decision  of  his  during  these  twenty-eight  years  was  ever 
finally  reversed  by  a  superior  court.  He  wrote  wills  and  all  kinds  of  legal  papers,  was 
master  in  chancery,  and  settled  many  estates  without  any  question  being  made  of  his 
l)ersonal  integrity  and  business  ability.  He  organized  the  Farmers"  Mutual  Fire 
Insurance  Association,  and  later  the  Readington  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  was 
connected  with  both  almost  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  organized  the  first  Sunday 
school  in  his  region,  at  Pleasant  Run,  in  1825,  and  never  gave  up  Sunday  school 
work  until  entirely  unable  to  attend  service.  As  an  elder  in  the  church,  and  leader 
in  jtrayer  meetings,  and  attendant  at  all  society  meetings  having  for  their  object  the 
jjromotion  of  the  go.spel,  he  was  so  well  known  tiiat  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  do 
more  here  than  refer  to  the  fact.  He  died  October  23,  1893.  (Obituary  notice  by 
A.  V.  D.  Honey  man.) 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  177 

Olark,  John  B.  Thompson,  and  others.  The  attorney- general  expressed 
the  surprise  they  had  felt  in  driving  across  the  country  to  find  the 
houses  closed  and  the  farms  deserted,  as  well  as  the  delij;ht  they  expe- 
rienced when  they  found  7,000  people  thus  gathered  from  their  farms 
to  hear  addresses  upon  popular  education.  They  regarded  it  as  a  sign 
that  the  people  would  ever  be  '•  ready  to  strengthen  the  hands  and 
encourage  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  laboring  for  the  educational 
advancement  of  New  Jersey."  After  these  i)ublic  addresses  the  schools 
separated,  each  to  its  own  table  in  the  woods,  where  after  the  dinner 
"l)Ostpraudial"  speeches  followed.' 

Eodman  M.  Price  was  elected  governor  of  New  Jersey  in  1851,  and 
served  three  years  in  this  office.  He  had  been  a  member  of  Congress 
from  New  Jersey,  and  before  that  had  exercised  judicial  functions  as 
the  first  alcalde  in  California  when  it  came  under  the  control  of  the 
United  States.  Of  cultured  manners  and  graceful  carriage,  his  wide 
experience  had  given  him  wisdom,  and  he  had  the  courage  of  his  con- 
victions. A  pronounced  partisan,  he  refused  to  heed  the  warnings  of 
some  of  his  associates  against  the  dangers  ,of  unpopularity  to  be 
incurred  bj^  advocating  the  educational  projects  of  the  day,  and  did  all 
he  could  in  public  and  in  private  to  i^roniote  them.  His  position  was 
such  that  it  is  no  disparagement  to  other  workers  to  designate  him  as 
the  "founder  of  the  New  Jersey  Normal  School,"  since  "through  his 
instrumentality  mainly  the  Normal  School  of  the  State  was  established."^ 

At  that  time  the  political  party  to  which  he  belonged  was  strongly 
attached  to  the  doctrine  of  State  rights.  But  this  did  not  hinder  him 
(in  an  address  at  Morristown,  which  1  had  invited  him  to  deliver)  from 
advocating  most  strongly  a  system  of  schools  tc  be  established  through- 
out the  ITnion  by  the  General  Government.' 

William  F.  Phelps  was  the  first  principal  of  the  New  Jersey  State 
Normal  School.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Union  College;  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  normal  school  at  Albany;  and  chiefly  through  the  in- 
fluence, first  of  C.  C.  Hoagland,  K.  S.  Field,  and  David  Cole,  he  was 
called  in  1855  to  lay  foundations  in  New  Jersey.  No  man  could  have 
been  better  fitted  for  the  task.  He  did  his  work,  and  he  did  it  well. 
He  knew  what  he  wanted,  and  provided  for  it. 

At  that  time  there  was  great  prejudice  in  New  Jersey  against  the 
coeducation  of  the  sexes.  Accordingly,  plans  for  the  buildings  were 
drawn  and  executed  in  such  way  that  separate  halls  were  j)rovided  for 
men  and  for  women,  so  that  they  never  met  in  the  building  save  in  the 
recitation  or  assembly  rooms  under  the  eye  of  a  teacher.  This  restric- 
tion has  long  since  been  removed,  and  the  present  occupants  of  the 
building  wonder  why  such  strange  alterations  have  been  necessar3^ 

1  The  True  American,  of  August  25,  1855. 

^The  People's  Cyclopedia,  and  Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  Biography. 

^Governor  Price  was  born  November  5,  1816,  and  died  June  4,  1894,  at  his  home, 
Hazelhurst-ou-Ramapo,  near  Oakland,  whither  he  had  retired  from  public  life  at 
the  close  of  his  career  of  service  to  the  State. 
20687  No.  23 -12 


178  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JEESEY. 

The  people  of  several  localities  in  New  Jersey  desired  the  normal 
school  and  offered  inducements  for  its  location  in  the  midst  of  them. 
Notable  among  these  was  the  proposition  from  Beverly,  where  Mr. 
Paul  Farnnm  proposed  to  give  the  State  the  building  which  now  bears 
his  name  with  an  endowment  of  820,000,  This  proffer  was  accepted 
for  a  school  auxiliary  to  the  normal  school  at  Trenton,  and  this  Farnum 
school  also  was  put  uuder  the  charge  of  Professor  Phelps. 

Though  somewhat  aggressive,  he  commended  the  normal  school  to 
the  public,  most  of  all  by  the  good  work  done  there,  work  of  a  strictly 
professional  character.  Under  his  care  the  institution  did  not  devote 
itself  merely  or  chiefly  to  academic  instruction,  but  to  instruction  in 
methods  of  teaching,  and  its  influence  soon  began  to  be  felt  through- 
out the  State.  The  normal  school  at  Albany  had  attached  to  it  a 
"model  school''  so-called,  consisting  of  children  gathered  in  from  the 
streets,  who  were  taught  by  the  pupil- teachers  in  the  normal  school 
under  direction  of  their  instructors.  Principal  Phelps  wished  to  secure 
and  retain  for  the  normal  school  the  personal  interest  of  the  best  peo- 
ple in  Trenton.  To  this  end  he  made  the  "model  school"  a  pay 
school,  really  an  academy  of  high  grade,  preparatory  both  to  the  nor- 
mal school  and  to  the  colleges  of  the  State,  and  the  result  has  justified 
the  i)lan.     Perhaps  he  had  other  aims  also.^ 

From  that  day  to  this  there  has  been  everywhere,  but  especially  in 
New  Jersey',  a  steadilj-  increasing  demand  for  the  trained  teacher. 
Every  one  of  the  173  graduates  from  the  normal  school  of  Xew  Jersey 
in  1898  is  engaged  in  teaching.  The  average  salary  received  by  the 
class  is  $41,00  per  month,  an  increase  of  82.09  over  that  received  by 
the  class  of  the  preceding  year.  The  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in 
1898  was  734. 

So  imiiortant  has  become  tlie  demand  for  trained  teachers  that  the  establishment 
of  a  second  normal  school  (so  long  under  consideration)  in  another  jiart  of  the  State 
must  become  a  reality  at  an  early  date.- 

Frederick  W.  Ricord  was  not  among  the  first,  but  he  was  among  the 
best,  engaged  in  the  general  educational  movement  at  this  time. 
Called  to  the  oflice  of  State  superintendent,  his  culture  and  taste 
enabled  him  to  infuse  into  the  educational  system  of  the  State  an 
element  which  commanded  the  respect  of  many  who  had  stood  aloof 
from  it  before.  Ilis  lectures  gratified  the  taste  of  literary  men;  and 
the  quiet  steadiness  with  whicli  he  refused,  under  the  strongest  pres- 
sure, to  appoint  to  the  charge  of  teachers'  institutes  those  whom  he 


'In  1864  Mr.  Phelps  became  principal  of  the  Minnesota  Normal  School,  and  in  1876 
of  the  Wisconsin  Normal  School  at  Whitewater.  In  1879  he  returned  to  Winona, 
]Miun.,  where  he  was  superintendent  of  the  public  schools  until  1885.  He  has  been 
the  editor  and  author  of  various  educational  works,  and  president  of  the  moat 
important  national  and  international  educational  associations  of  the  day. 

-Report  of  State  Superintendent  for  1890,  p.  34. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  179 

judge-d  unfit  for  the  position,  won  for  hi  in  the  ever-increasing  esteem 
of  those  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the  case.' 

The  most  efficient  of  all  the  agencies  used  at  first  in  popularizing  the 
normal  school,  as  well  as  of  exciting  and  develoi)ing  and  perpetnating 
the  interest  in  education  generally,  was  the  teachers'  institute. 

The  teachers'  institute  was  in  fact  a  temporary  normal  school,  going 
from  j)lace  to  place  in  every  county  every  year,  and  including  also  a 
course  of  five  lectures  on  educational  topics  by  well-known  educators. 
Among  those  whose  voices  were  thus  heard  throughout  the  State  were 
almost  all  those  who  have  been  herein  previously  named  in  connection 
with  this  movement.  Mention  should  be  made  here  also  of  Sumner  0. 
Webb  and  Henry  B.  Pierce,  teachers  in  the  normal  school;  Dana  P. 
Colburn  and  S.  A.  Potter,  of  Rhode  Island;  and  X.  A.  Calkins,  J.  S. 
Denman,  James  B.  Thomson,  and  Charles  W.  Sanders,  of  ISTew  York. 

There  were  many  others  also  who  had  a  part  in  this  work,  but  none 
who  did  so  much  in  it  as  these,  save  only  Abraham  Thompson,  then  of 
Michigan,  who  went  everywhere  with  the  State  agent,  teaching  in  the 
institute  during  the  day  and  lecturing  at  night,  always  untiring  and 
always  acceptable  both  to  the  teachers  and  the  populace.  Frequently 
two  institutes  were  held  at  the  same  time  in  different  counties,  and  the 

'  The  same  firmness  of  purpose  characterized  the  discharge  of  his  duties  afterwards 
as  mayor  of  Newark.  No  clamor  of  the  populace,  nor  urgency  of  great  men,  could 
induce  him  to  authorize  the  contracting  of  obligations  which  he  deemed  unwise; 
and  for  this  jiersistent  refusal  (it  was  stated  at  las  funeral)  all  Newark  thanks  him 
to-day. 

Frederick  "William  Eicord  was  born  at  Guadaloupe,  in  the  West  Indies,  October  7, 
1819,  and  studied  at  Hobart  and  Rutgers  colleges.  In  1845  he  opened  a  private 
school  in  Newark,  Avhich  he  continued  for  twelve  years.  In  1852  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Newark  board  of  education,  in  Avhich  he  continued  for  seventeen 
years,  being  for  the  last  two  years  president  of  the  board.  From  1860  to  1863  he 
was  State  superintendent  of  public  schools;  from  1865  to  1867,  mayor  of  Newark; 
from  1875  to  1879,  judge  of  the  Essex  court  of  common  pleas;  from  1881  to  the  end 
of  his  life,  librarian  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society;  and  from  188-1  also,  United 
States  meteorologist  at  Newark.  He  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  from  Rutgers  Col- 
lege in  1845,  and  from  Princeton  in  1861. 

His  contributions  to  the  press  and  to  magazines  on  historical  and  other  topics 
were  voluminous;  besides  which  he  published:  History  of  Rome  (1852);  The 
Youth's  Grammar  (1853);  Life  of  Madame  de  Longueville,  from  the  French  of 
Victor  Cousin  (1854);  The  Henriade,  from  the  French  of  Voltaire  (1859);  English 
Songs  from  Foreign  Tongues  (1879);  The  Self- Tormentor,  from  the  Latin  of  Teren- 
tius,  with  More  English  Songs  (1885) — the  last  two  volumes  containing  translations 
from  fourteen  languages  and  dialects.  He  also  comi)iled  most  of  the  sketches  of 
professional  men  in  the  History  of  Essex  and  Hudson  Counties  (1884);  edited  Vols. 
IX,  X,  and  XIII  to  XVIII,  of  the  New  Jersey  Archives;  also  General  Index  to  the 
New  Jersey  Archives  series  (1888).  He  also  prepared  many  articles  for  encyclo- 
pedias. His  last  published  works  were  Biographical  Encyclopedia  of  Successful 
Men  of  New  Jersey,  and  History  of  Union  County.  Judge  Ricord  died  August  12, 
1897.  S-ee  Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography,  Vol.  V,  p.  247;  and  Honey- 
man's  Encyclopedia  of  New  Jersey  (soon  to  be  issued). 


180  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JER8P:Y. 

one  in  liis  charge  was  coiuUicted  as  acceptably  as  that  in  charge  of 
the  State  agent.' 

Dr.  0.  0.  Hoagland,  who  was  the  first  State  agent  of  the  Xew  Jersey 
Teachers'  Association,  organized  teachers'  institutes  in  half  of  the 
counties  of  the  State  aiul  then  removed  to  Illinois. 

He  was  succeeded  by  John  B.  Thompson,  who,  after  his  election  by 
the  State  Teachers  Association,  was  commissioned  as  follows: 

State  of  New  Jersey, 
Office  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools, 

Pennington,  May  17,  1856. 
To  all  to  whom  these  presents  may  come,  greeting : 

It  afifords  me  pleasure  to  iutroduce  to  your  favorable  notice  John  B,  Thompson, 
agent  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Teachers'  Association,  inviting  the  friends  of  educa- 
tion throughout  the  State  to  coojierate  with  him  in  his  efforts  among  the  teachers 
to  promote  the  cause  of  education. 

John  H.  Phillips, 

State  Superintendent. 

Under  this  commission  the  state  agent  served  three  j^ears,  using 
constantly  a  circular  letter,  as  follows: 

You  are  invited  to  attend  the  teachers'  institute  to  he  held  at  ,  in  the 

county  of ,  during  the  week  commencing , ,  of  the  present  year. 

A  teachers'  institute  is  an  as8eml)lage  of  teachers  for  improvement  in  the  studies 
they  are  to  teach  and  in  the  principles  bj^  which  they  are  to  govern.  Its  chief 
design  is  to  teach  teachers  how  to  teach.  This  is  done  by  precept  and  by  example. 
Under  accomplished  instructors  teachers  are  formed  into  classes,  drilled  in  the 
studies  they  are  expected  to  teach,  and  taught  the  best  methods  of  imparting 
knowledge. 

Whenever  and  wherever  teachers  meet  and  interchange  views  respecting  their 
business,  compare  methods,  suggest  illustrations,  discuss  plans,  relate  incidents,  and 
talk  over  the  thousand  and  one  petty  but  important  details  of  their  duties,  the  effect 
must  be  good.  But  when  we  add  to  all  this  that  a  teachers'  institute  is,  besides,  a 
model  school  in  which  the  rules  of  punctuality,  order,  diligence,  attention,  and 
promptness  are  applied  to  teachers  themselves — in  which  all  the  points  connected 
with  the  government,  discipline,  and  classification  of  schools  are  examiiied;  in 
which  the  rules  and  principles  laid  down  in  the  text-books  are  fully  exi)lained  and 
the  best  methods  of  impressing  these  upon  the  minds  of  children  are  pointed  out, 
and  from  which  teachers  retunf  to  their  schools  with  an  increased  fund  of  knowl- 
edge, with  errors  corrected,  aims  elevated,  and  understandings  enlightened — the 
importance  of  such  institutes  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  Nothing  can  be  further 
fi-om  the  fact  than  the  idea  entertained  by  some  that  the  teachers'  institute  is  the 
jilace  for  the  exijosition  of  faults,  and  yet  it  is  to  be  feared  that  this  idea  has  kept 
away  from  such  meetings  many  who  most  needed  the  advantages  to  be  obtained 
only  there. 

The  duty  of  preparing  for  whatever  we  undertake;  the  rai)idly  advancing  stand- 
ard of  education;  the  increased  vigilance  of  trustees  in  seeking  out  teachers  of  high 
talents  and  attainments;  the  readiness  of  districts  to  pay  higher  salaries  to  good 


*  Abraham  Thompson  had  been  a  teacher  of  public  schools  before  going  to  college. 
After  that  he  taught  at  Holland  in  Michigan,  and  was  three  years  the  rector  of 
Rutgers  College  grammar  school  in  New  Brunswick.  He  was  also  a  minister  of  the 
gospel.  He  was  born  December  30,  1833,  and  died  September  18,  1886.  One  of  his 
sons  is  a  teacher  in  Brooklyn  and  another  in  the  University  of  Chicago. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  181 

teachers;  the  obligation  to  the  governmeDt  which  provides  such  opportunities  for 
improvement— all  these  considerations  call  upou  every  teacher  to  avail  himself  of 
this  opportunity  for  improving-  himself  and  others. 

The  momentous  interests,  public  and  private,  which  depend  upou  the  advance- 
ment of  popular  education  among  us  appeal  to  every  patriot,  philanthropist,  and 
Christian  to  lend  all  his  inllueuce  to  a  measure  which  has  proved  so  eminently 
successful  in  improving  the  character  of  our  schools  and  awakening  the  interest  of 
parents. 

Every  teacher  and  school  officer  in  the  county  should  attend  this  institute.  It  is 
])rovided  for  all.  The  citizens  of  the  vicinity  usually  entertain  the  members  of  the 
institute  and  consider  themselves  sutiticiently  remunerated  therefor  by  the  good 
they  derive  from  the  exercises  of  the  week. 

The  evenings  will  lye  devoted  to  popular  lectures  on  subjects  connected  with  edu- 
cation.    For  particulars  j'ou  are  referred  to  the  notices  in  yoar  county  papers. 

The  expenses  of  teachers  will  be  so  snuill  and  the  advantages  so  great  that  it 
is  earnestly  hoped  that  you  will  do  yourself  and  your  profession  the  justice  to 
attend. 

Hojiing  to  meet  you  at  the  time  and  place  appointed,  I  remain, 
Yours,  in  our  common  cause, 

John  13.  Thompson, 
State  .i(jviit  of  the  Xew  Jersey  Teachers'  Association. 

lu  the  report  of  his  work  the  State  agent  said : 

Taught  by  the  experience  as  well  as  by  the  counsels  of  his  illustrious  predecessor, 
the  present  incumbent  was  successful,  during  the  first  year  of  his  otiSce,  in  estab- 
lishing institutes  in  every  county  in  the  State.  Similar  results,  Avith  two  exceptions, 
have  crowned  his  labors  during  the  past  year. 

Since  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  he  has  communicated  with  teachers 
and  people  by  means  of  2,500  printed  circulars,  900  letters,  100  public  lectures 
(exclusive  of  the  daily  services  of  teachers'  institutes),  given  professional  instruc- 
tion to  about  1,300  teachers,  traveled  more  than  10,000  miles,  in  all  sorts  of  convey- 
ances, over  all  sorts  of  roads,  in  all  sorts  of  weather,  meeting  Avlth  all  sorts  of 
recejytions;  but  with  an  earnest  heart  and  hopeful  confidence  in  his  cause,  never 
despairing,  never  doubting  its  ultimate  success,  he  has  gone  steadily  forward  as 
best  he  could,  and  trusts  that  he  has  not  labored  entirely  in  vain. 

The  character  of  the  institutes  has  been  slightly  modified  from  that  of  those  in 
neighboring  States.  Conscious  that  no  great  success  can  or  ought  to  be  attained  in  a 
country  like  ours  unless  the  people  apjirove  and  aid  the  undertaking,  the  endeavor  has 
been  made  to  give  the  institutes  more  of  a  popular  character.  More  time  has  been 
given  for  discussions,  and  more  general  exercises  have  been  introduced,  in  which -all 
jiresent  might  participate.  The  public  lectures  have  been  of  a  more  familiar  and 
hortatory  character.  In  short,  everything  has  been  done  which,  without  interfer- 
ing with  the  primitive  design  of  a  teachers'  institute,  seemed  likely  to  impress  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people  the  momentous  interests,  public  and  private,  which  cluster 
around  the  cause  we  advocate.  While  this  is  so,  care  has  been  taken  that  the  daily 
exercises  should  be  strictly  professional,  and  that  they  should  not  degenerate  into 
mere  academic  instruction,  though,  sooth  to  say,  this  last  is  greatly  needed,  too. 

The  evenings  were  devoted  to  lectures  and  discussions  in  which  all  present  were 
invited  to  participate.  The  daily  exercises  usually  continued  six  hours,  three- 
fourths  of  each  hour  being  devoted  ti)  instruction  and  the  remaining  fourth  to  rec- 
reation or  vocal  music,  or  both.' 

Wheu  the  State  agent  'lecliaed  a  reelection,  no  successor  was  named. 
It  was  thought  that  sufficient  interest  had  been  awakened  and  that  the 


'  Printed  in  the  report  of  the  State  superintendent  of  public  schools  for  1857,  pj). 
35-56. 


182  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

work  would  now  go  on  successfully  without  such  an  agency.  But 
experience  has  shown  that  this  was  a  mistake.  For  reasons  not  stated, 
the  duration  of  the  teachers'  institute  (still  so  called)  has  been  reduced 
from  live  days  to  three,  or  two,  or  even  one.  The  present  State  super- 
intendent, the  Hon.  C.  J.  Baxter,  advocates  a  return  to  the  former 
plan.     In  his  report  for  189G  he  says : 

No  institute  should  be  held  for  a  shorter  period  than  five  days,  and  the  iustructiou 
so  allotted  as  to  keep  all  our  educational  forces  in  line.  A  five  days'  institute  will 
accomplish  more  for  our  schools  than  any  ever  yet  held.  While  we  are  looking  for- 
ward to  the  most  important  improvements  in  our  public  school  system,  such  as  the 
employment  of  State  agents,  we  must  not  forget  that  it  also  behooves  us  to  make 
the  most  of  present  conditions  and  opportunities,  and  that  by  so  doing  we  employ 
the  most  effectual  means  of  hastening  the  desired  reform. 

V.    PUBLIC   LIBRARIES. 

"But  they  don't  read,"  said  a  Tiibingen  professor  when  I  expressed 
mj^  admiration  of  the  fact  that  all  German  peasants  can  read  and  write 
and  keep  accounts.  And  investigation  showed  that  he  was  right. 
They  do  not  read.  Compulsory  education  may  teach  how  to  read,  but 
so  long  as  it  confines  attention  to  dull  school  books  it  can  not  impart 
a  taste  for  reading,  and  without  a  taste  for  reading  those  who  have 
escaped  from  the  authority  of  a  schoolmaster  will  not  read.  The  taste 
for  reading  can  be  acquired  only  when  there  are  opportunities  for  its 
cultivation,  and  these  opportunities  must  be  furnished  to  the  young  or 
they  will  not  be  furnished  to  many.  A  taste  for  good  literature  can, 
and  therefore  must,  be  acquired  by  children  in  their  school  days. 

When  this  truth  is  recognized  in  the  common  schools  and  literature  is  given  its 
proper  place,  not  only  for  the  development  of  the  mind  but  as  the  most  easily  opened 
door  to  history,  art,  science,  general  intelligence,  we  shall  see  ihe  taste  of  the  read- 
ing public  in  the  United  States  undergo  a  mighty  change.  The  school  can  easily  be 
made  to  inculcate  a  taste  for  good  literature ;  it  can  be  a  powerful  influence  in  teach- 
ing the  American  people  what  to  read.' 

There  were  books  in  the  colonies  in  the  seventeenth  century,  but 
mostly  religious  books. 

Benjamin  Franklin  tells  us  that  his  father's  little  library  was  princi- 
pally made  up  of  books  of  practical  and  polemic  theology,  the  greatest 
part  of  which  the  boy  read  before  he  was  12  years  of  age.  Afterwards 
he  expressed  his  regret  that,  at  a  time  when  he  had  so  great  a  thirst 
for  knowledge,  more  eligible  books  had  not  fallen  into  his  hands. 
While  working  at  the  printer's  trade  he  borrowed  books  from  book- 
sellers' apprentices,  often  reading  them  at  night  and  returning  them 
early  in  the  morning,  lest  they  should  be  missed.  He  succeeded,  how- 
ever, in  securing  some  books  ol'  his  own,  and  had  these,  as  well  as 
those  of  his  friend,  John  Collins,  with  him  on  his  second  journey  to 
Philadelphia.  This  was  in  1724,  when  William  Burnet  (after  whom 
Burnet  street  in  New  Brunswick  is  named)  was  governor  of  New  York 

'  Charles  Dudley  Warner 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  183 

and  New  Jersey.  Franklin  informs  ns,  in  bis  Autobiograpby,  that 
Governor  Burnet,  "hearing  the  captain  say  that  a  young  man  who  was 
a  passenger  in  his  ship  had  a  great  number  of  books,  begged  him  to 
bring  me  to  his  bouse."     He  adds: 

The  governor  treated  me  with  great  civility,  showed  me  his  library,  which  was  a 
very  considerable  one,  and  we  talked'  for  some  time  upon  books  and  authors. 

The  next  year  Franklin  was  in  London  and  paid  a  bookseller  there 
for  the  privilege  of  reading  his  books.  He  says :  "Circulating  libraries 
were  not  then  in  use."  Iveturning  to  Philadelphia,  he  formed  his  Junto 
Club,  consisting  of  ten  persons  beside  himself,  all  of  whom  brought 
their  books  together  for  the  benefit  of  all.  But  the  result  was  not  sat- 
isfactory, and  at  the  end  of  the  year  each  took  his  books  home  again. 
In  1731,  bowever,  Franklin  induced  fifty  persons  to  contribute  50  shil- 
lings each,  and  to  promise  10  shillings  annually,  for  a  library.  The 
reading  room  and  the  books  were  free  to  any  "civil  person,"  and  if  he 
deposited  the  value  of  a  volume  and  added  a  small  sum  for  its  use  he 
could  take  it  home. 

One  of  Franklin's  associates  in  founding  this  first  free  and  circulating 
library  in  the  world  was  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader,  and  be  continued  to 
serve  as  one  of  its  directors  at  intervals  for  nearly  fifty  years.  During 
seven  of  these  years,  bowever,  bis  home  was  at  Trenton,  and  when  the 
borough  of  that  name  was  incorporated  was  made  chief  burgess  or 
mayor.  Before  returning  to  Philadelphia,  in  1750,  be  gave  £500  for  tbe 
establishment  of  a  public  library  in  Trenton.  His  name  should  be  held 
in  everlasting  remembrance  as  tbe  father  of  public  libraries  in  Xew 
Jersey.  His  brotber-in-law,  William  Morris,  took  a  deep  interest  in 
this  library,  and  wrote  to  Governor  Belcher  in  its  behalf. 

March  20,  1751',  the  governor  replied  from  Elizabethtown: 

I  have  not  yet  read  over  what  you  inclosed  for  the  governor  to  do  for  the  better 
establishment  of  our  Trenton  library,  but  you  may  depend  1  shall  always  be  willing 
to  do  everything  proper  on  my  part  for  promoting  and  strengthening  every  scheme 
which  may  have  a  tendency  to  propagate  religion  and  learning,  which  will  be  of  so  ' 
great  advantage  to  the  present  and  future  generations.' 

This  library  is  mentioned  by  Samuel  Smitb  in  the  first  history  of  Xew 
Jersey,  written  in  17G5.  It  continued  to  flourish  during  the  colonial 
period,  and  similar  libraries  became  numerous,  so  that  Franklin  could 
say  that  they  had  "improved  tbe  general  conversation  of  Americans, 
made  tbe  common  tradesmen  and  farmers  as  intelligent  as  most  gen- 
tlemen from  other  countries,  and  perhaps  contributed  in  some  degree 
to  the  stand  so  generally  taken  throughout  tbe  colonies  in  defense  of 
their  ijrivileges." 

'In  1754  William  Alexander  (better  known  as  Lord  Stirling) ;  William  Livingston 
(afterwards  governor  of  New  Jersey) ;  his  relatives,  Philip  Livingston  and  Robert  R. 
Livingston,  with  John  Moriu  Scott  and  William  Smith,  the  historian,  "raised  £600 
to  purchase  books  to  lend  to  the  people,  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Xew 
York  Society  Library."  (Duer's  Life  of  William  Alexander,  Earl  of  Stirling,  p.  7, 
note.) 


184  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Ill  1773  when  John  Ewiiig  was  in  England,  Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  char- 
acteristic style,  aftirmecl  that  the  Americans  were  as  ignorant  as  they 
were  rebellious,  and  said:  "You  never  read;  you  have  no  books  there." 
To  which  the  eminent  educator  replied:  "Pardon  me;  we  have  read 
the  Rambler." 

The  fact  is  that  at  that  time  Amerrcan  booksellers  sold  freely  the 
writings  of  Johnson,  Burke,  and  Goldsmith.  One  Boston  house  num- 
bered on  its  shelves  10,000  volumes,  and  several  public  and  private 
libraries  already  existed.  In  December,  1776,  the  Trenton  library  was 
destroyed  by  the  British,  as  was  also  the  private  library  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Spencer,  of  that  city.' 

A  remnant  of  the  Trenton  library,  however,  probably  escaped  destruc- 
tion, for  Rensalaer  Williams  is  mentioned  as  the  librarian  in  1781.  But 
it  was  not  until  the  first  Monday  in  May,  1797,  that  a  serious  attempt  was 
made  to  reorganize  the  Trenton  library  and  j^ut  it  upon  a  secure  basis. 
On  that  day  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  was  held,  the  laws  and  regula- 
tions were  amended,  and  directors  appointed.- 

In  1798  the  laws  and  regulations,  rules,  names  of  proprietors,  and  a 
catalogue  were  printed.  The  annual  fee  was  $1.  The  public  were  per- 
mitted to  use  the  books  on  condition  of  depositing  double  their  value 
as  security  for  safe  return  and  the  payment  of  1  shilling  a  week  for 
folios  and  C  i^ence  for  smaller  books.  The  only  folios  were  a  History 
of  Edward  III  of  England  and  George  Fox's  Journal.  The  libra- 
rian was  required  to  be  in  attendance  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays 
from  .10  to  1  o'clock.  There  were  sixty  proprietors  and  the  value  of  the 
shares  was  fixed  by  the  directors.  Of  the  240  volumes  4  were  quartos, 
94  octavos,  and  140  duodecimos. 

The  prosperity  of  the  Trenton  Library  Company  is  shown  by  the 
catalogue  printed  in  1804.  By  this  time  the  number  of  volumes  had 
been  increased  to  700,  and  they  were  then  classified,  not  according  to 
size,  but  according  to  subject,  in  ten  classes.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
the  proportion  of  volumes  in  these  ten  classes.     There  were  in — 

Agriculture 10 

Biograpliy 56 

Divinity 37 

Geography,  chronology,  and  history 139 

Novels,  romances,  and  fables 105 

Pliilosophy  and  natural  history 28 

I'olitc  literature,  morals,  and  manners 182 

Law  and  politics 44 

Travels,  tours,  campaigns,  journals,  and  voyages 68 

Miscellanies 22 

1  Hall's  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton,  and  American  Archives, 
fifth  series,  III,  1509,  where  (under  date  of  December  31,  1776)  it  is  stated  that  the 
enemy  "have  degraded  themselves  Itcyond  the  power  of  language  to  express  by 
wantonly  destroying  the  curious  waterworks  in  New  York,  an  elegant  jjublic  library 
at  Trenton,  and  the  grand  orrery  made  by  the  celebrated  Kittenhouse,  which  was 
placed  in  the  college  at  Princeton." 

-I  have  been  unable  to  discover  any  books  in  vi.s(^  before  1797. 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  185 

The  selectious  were  generally  good  aud  the  books  well  bound.  Many 
ol"  them  are  still  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation.^ 

In  December,  1831,  50  books  were  drawn  from  this  library;  in 
December,  1832,  73;  but  in  December,  1834,  there  were  but  33;  and 
after  that  the  number  gradually  declined,  the  proprietors  having  mostly 
died  or  moved  away. 

In  1855  the  books  were  transferred  to  the  Trenton  Library  Associa- 
tion, which  had  been  organized  in  1852.  This  association  flourished 
for  a  time,  but  ultimately  its  books  and  those  of  the  Library  Company 
with  them  passed  into  the  custody  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  which  had  also  a  library. 

In  March,  1879,  these  three  collections  were  delivered  into  the  care  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  now  has  on  its 
shelves  about  6,000  volumes,  issued  to  the  public  on  the  payment  of  a 
small  fee. 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  in  this  connection  other  libraries  which 
have  risen,  flourished,  and  fallen  in  Trenton.  The  Christian  Circulat- 
ing Library  was  established  in  1811,  the  Apprentices'  Library  in  1821, 
the  Constitutional  Library  Association  in  1853,  and  the  Washington 
Library  a  little  later.  The  State  Library  at  the  Statehouse  is  chiefly, 
but  not  exclusively,  a  law  library. 

The  normal  school  library  is  designed  for  the  members  of  that  insti- 
tution. The  Cadwalader  Library  is  the  first  perfectly  free  library  in 
Trenton.  The  establishment  of  such  a  library  was  decided  upon  in 
October,  1897,  in  the  old  Cadwalader  House.  It  already  has  about 
500  volumes.  It  exists  for  the  convenience  of  those  in  that  vicinity, 
with  the  intent  of  resolving  it  into  a  station  of  the  free  public  library, 
which  it  is  hoped  will  be  established  under  our  excellent  library  laws 
at  no  distant  day. 

The  Burlington  Library  was  organized  in  1757,  and  has  had  a  con- 
tinuous existence  from  that  day  to  this.  Just  now  it  is  in  process  of 
arrangement  according  to  modern  methods  in  order  to  increase  its 
etflciency. 

The  Mount  Holly  Library  was  organized  in  1765,  and  is  still  perform- 
ing its  excellent  mission,  as  is  also  the  Woodbury  Library,  instituted 
in  1794. 

The  Union  Library  Company  of  New  Brunswick  was  organized  in 
1790,  and  its  history  is  very  like  that  of  the  Trenton  Library  Company. 
Its  books  are  now  a  part  of  the  Free  Public  Library,  which  is  blessing 
that  community. 

The  first  legislative  act  of  New  Jersey  in  behalf  of  public  education 
was  that  of  November  27,  1794,  "To  incorporate  societies  for  the  pro- 
motion of  learning."    November  11,  1799,  this  act  was  extended  to 

'  They  are  in  possession  of  the  AV.  C.  T.  U.,  which,  however,  wishes  to  be  relieved 
of  them.  The  record  of  book.s  issued  from  November  12,  1831,  to  April  25,  1855,  is 
in  my  possession,  as  is  also  the  record  of  transfers  of  stock  from  March  21,  1799,  to 
June  4,  1835. 


186  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

operate  also  "  as  an  incorporating  act  for  all  library  companies  that  are 
now  or  shall  hereafter  be  formed  in  any  of  the  counties  of  this  State.*' 
Thus  a  century  ago  libraries  were  init  upon  the  same  footing  as  schools 
in  New  Jersey. 

But  the  first  State  in  the  Union  to  recognize  the  importance  of  pro- 
viding free  reading  matter,  as  well  as  free  schools,  for  the  education  of 
the  people  of  the  State,  was  the  State  of  New  York.  The  suggestion 
was  made  by  De  Witt  Clinton  in  the  governor's  message  of  1820.  It 
was  repeated  by  Azariah  0.  Flagg  and  John  A.  Dix,  superintendents 
of  common  schools,  in  1830  and  1833,  and  by  Governor  William  L. 
Marcy  in  1838,  in  which  year  the  legislature  made  the  first  appropria- 
tion for  the  purpose. 

The  wisest  and  best  men  in  New  Jersey  heard,  and  believed,  and 
endeavored  to  induce  this  State  to  act  also.  February  (>,  1839,  the 
trustees  for  the  support  of  free  schools,  in  their  first  report,  suggested 
that  there  should  be  made  ''  some  provision  for  supplying  every  district 
school  with  a  small  library,  together  with  a  few  globes,  maps,  and  other 
similar  aids  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge." 

In  their  next  report  they  said: 

It  is  much  to  be  desired  thatin  every  district  a  small  sum  should  be  set  apart  every 
year  for  the  purcbase  of  a  library.  The  amount  re([uired  for  this  purpose  would 
uot  be  large,  and  it  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  good  that  might  result  from  it, 
particularly  in  the  more  sequestered  districts.  There  are  large  sections  of  the  State 
in  which  there  are  no  public  libraries,  and  many  neighborhoods,  doubtless,  where, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Bible,  no  books  are  to  be  found  adapted  to  use  and  cal- 
culated to  convey  useful  information  in  a  pleasing  form. 

They  add  that— 

there  has  lately  been  published  in  the  State  of  New  York,  under  the  direction  of  the 
superintendent  of  common  schools,  a  series  of  books  of  this  description,  designed  to 
form  a  district  library; 

and  that — 

a  second  series  of  books  of  the  same  description  is  also  in  course  of  publication. 

They  append  a  list  of  50  books,  selected  from  these  series,  which 
"may  be  purchased  for  820,  including  a  neat  bookcaj^e." 

One  of  the  members  of  the  legislative  council  in  1840  and  1841  was 
Josiah  M.  Eeeve,  of  Salem  County.  There  can  be  little  doubt  but  that 
it  was  he  wlio  wrote  from  the  township  of  Upper  Alloway  Creek  in 
1828  the  letter  before  quoted  (p.  157),  expressing  the  earnest  hojje 
"that  our  legislature  will  bo  induced  to  adopt  some  more  efficient  mode 
of  instruction."  Entertaining  these  views,  he  lent  his  influence  and  his 
vote  to  every  measure  calculated  to  further  the  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  the  people.  Among  these  was  the  proposition  to  establish  school 
district  libraries.  A  letter  on  the  subject,  addressed  to  Kichard  S.  Field 
by  William  P.  Page,  was  printed  and  furnished  to  every  member  of 
the  legislature.     Mr.  Keeve's  copy  of  this  letter,  carefully  indorsed  by 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  187 

his  own  lumd,  is  before  me  as  I  write,  and  a  brief  notice  of  him  will  be 
found  below.^ 

Mr.  Page's  letter  is  dated  "Brooklyn,  Long  Island,  February  8, 1841." 
In  it  he  writes : 

These  libraries  are  often  called  school  or  district  school  libraries,  under  the 
imi^ression  that  they  are  intended  to  be  placed  in  the  common  schools,  to  be  used 
only  by  the  children.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  They  are  not  district  school,  but 
school  district,  libraries — that  is,  libraries  for  the  equal  benefit  of  all  persous  resid- 
ing in  the  school  districts;  and  it  is  this  character  of  universality  in  their  extension 
and  use  which  gives  to  them  such  vast  importance,  and  which,  as  I  have  already 
observed,  may  be  considered  as  a  new  element  in  popular  education. 

Thej'  will  not  only  form  in  our  youth  a  love  and  habit  of  reading,  but  afford  to 
all  motives  and  means  for  self-instruction;  and  I  am  fnlly  persuaded  that  this  is 
the  only  way  in  which  the  great  body  of  the  American  people  can  be  so  educated 
that  they  shall  be  in  all  respects  worthy  of  their  exalted  privileges  and  fitted  for 
the  intelligent  discharge  of  their  civil  and  social  duties.  They  .must,  in  a  word,  be 
their  own  educators. 

He  quotes  the  testimony  of  an  intelligent  farmer  who  wi-ites  of  the 
library: 

It  has  given  our  children  an  increase  of  knowledge;  it  has  fixed  in  them  a  habit 
of  reading  all  the  books  that  they  can  get;  they  have  read  our  library  over  .ind 
over,  until  they  h.ave  got  the  whole  snbject-matter  of  it  in  their  minds;  it  has  kept 
our  boys  at  home  in  the  evening ;  it  has  kept  them  out  of  much  vice ;  it  has  improved 
their  ujorals;  it  has  given  them  a  largo  step  toward  manhood.  Our  library  is  a  very 
money-saving  thing;  it  saves  clothes.  One  scuftliug  boy  will  wear  out  as  many 
ck>thes  as  two  reading  boys.  The  aged  and  the  middle-aged  have  received  a  benefit 
from  this  library.  On  the  whole,  it  is  one  of  the  best  things  that  has  ever  been  put 
within  our  reach.  I  have  conversed  with  my  neighbors  on  this  subject.  I  find  that 
they  agree  with  me  in  every  particular. 

He  adduces  also  the  following  passage  from  the  recent  message  of 
Governor  William  H.  Seward: 

Henceforth  no  citizen  who  shall  have  improved  the  advantages  offered  by  our 
common  schools  and  the  district  libraries  will  be  without  some  .scientific  knowledge 
of  the  earth,  its  physical  condition  and  phenomena,  the  animals  that  inhabit  it,  the 
vegetables  that  clothe  it  with  verdure,  and  the  minerals  under  its  surface,  the  jihy^i- 
ology  and  the  intellectual  powers  of  man,  the  laws  of  mechanics  and  their  practical 
uses,  those  of  chemistry  and  their  applicatious  to  the  arts,  the  princi])]es  of  moral 
and  political  economy,  the  history  of  nations,  and  especially  that  of  our  own  coun- 
try, the  2)rogress  and  triumph  of  the  democratic  principle  in  the  governments  on  this 
continent,  and  the  prospects  of  its  ascendency  throughout  the  world,  the  trials  and 
faith,  valor,  and   coustancy  of  our  ancestors,  with  all  the  iuspirii^g  examples  of 

'  Josiah  Miller  Reeve  was  born  March  13,  1791,  and  was  educated  at  the  red  school- 
house  in  Maunington,  at  the  Friends'  School  in  Westtown,  Pa.,  and  at  the  boarding 
school  of  Enoch  Lewis  in  New  Garden,  Pa.  In  1821  he  bought  the  Oakland  mills, 
on  Alloway's  Creek,  and  founded  the  well-known  firm  of  Reeve  »i:  Bros.,  shipbuilders. 
A  flourishing  village  grew  up  around  the  shipyard,  and  in  1857  his  eldest  daughter 
established  a  school  for  the  better  education  of  the  children  of  the  laborers  in  the 
shipyard  and  vicinity.  When  the  first  Salem  County  teachers'  institute  outside  the 
city  of  Salem  was  held  iu  Alloway,  in  1858,  he  received  more  than  a  dozen  of  its  offi- 
cers aud  members  into  his  hospitable  home ;  and  in  this  home  he  died,  March  14, 186.5- 


188  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

benevolence,  virtne,  and  patriotism  exhibited  iu  the  lives  of  the  benefactors  of  man- 
kind. Although  mauj'  of  onr  ci  izens  may  pass  the  district  library,  heedless  of  the 
treasures  it  contains,  the  unpretending  A'olumes  will  find  their  way  to  the  fireside, 
diffusing  knowledge,  increasing  domestic  happiness,  and  promoting  public  virtue. 

These  glowing  anticipations  were  not  realized,  at  least  not  directly — 

First,  because  the  unit  (the  district)  was  too  small;  second,  the  amount  of  money 
annually  raised  in  each  district  was  insufiScient;  third,  the  number  of  volumes  in 
each  was  too  small  to  secure  anything  like  public  interest  in  the  care,  preservation 
or  circulation  of  the  books. 

Out  of  the  failure  of  this  system  the  States  which  enacted  laws  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  school  district  libraries  learned  from  experience  that  additional  legisla- 
tion was  necessary.  Hence,  many  of  the  States  subsequently  passed  statutes 
providing  for  township  libraries;  that  is,  the  town  was  made  the  unit,  and  local 
taxation  became  the  means  of  support,  in  whidc  or  in  jiart,  for  these  libraries.  • 

Nevertheless,  the  school  district  libraries  have  done,  and,  indeed,  are 
still  doing,  a  good  work.  They  have  been  established  in  sixteen  States, 
and  have  educated  the  people  up  to  a  desire  for  still  better  things. 
Nor  was  the  effort  entirely  fruitless  at  that  time  in  New  Jersey.  Here 
and  there  libraries  were  ])rovided  iu  schools  by  special  effort.  ^ 

But  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe.  The  educational  convention  of  1853 
had  recommended  "  an  annual  appropriation  of  $15  to  each  school 
district  in  the  State  for  the  purchase  of  district  libraries,  on  condition 
that  the  district  raise  an  equal  amount  for  the  same  purpose."  But 
nothing  in  this  direction  was  accomplished  until  eighteen  j^ears  later. 

'  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1895-96,  p.  524. 

^October  15,  1850,  George  W.  Vroom,  town  superintendent  of  Branchburg,  in 
Somerset  County,  wrote  in  the  record  book  of  the  Cedar  Grove  School:  "  This  is  the 
first  district  in  the  township  to  set  the  example  of  a  library  in  their  school.  I, 
tlierefore,  say  there  is  more  energy  and  perseverance  shown  by  the  trustees  and 
em]>loyer8  of  this  district  than  of  any  other  in  the  township."' 

The  building  up  of  the  library  of  the  Harlan  district  school  (see  p.  144)  in  1868  is 
thus  described  by  the  teacher:  "There  was  a  bookcase  built  into  each  corner  of  the 
north  end  of  the  room.  The  school  books  difi'crcd  entirely  from  those  of  the  adja- 
cent schools.  The  text-l>ooks  in  geogr;iphy  were  very  good,  especially  the  illustra- 
tions and  the  narrative  form  of  the  primary  book;  but  some  of  the  scholars  and 
their  parents  thought  them  too  hard,  and  they  were  discarded  iu  favor  of  an  ele- 
mentary work,  with  questions  and  answers  to  be  memorized.  These  I  was  compelled 
to  use  iu  the  class ;  but  I  bought  the  discarded  books,  put  them  into  one  of  the 
cases,  and  often  rewarded  the  pupils  by  allowing  them  to  use  them  as  reading  books. 

This  nucleus  of  a  library  was  from  time  to  time  increased  by  contributions  from 
my  own  stores  and  from  those  of  my  friends  as  well  as  from  the  ])uiiils  and  their 
parents.  Often  when  discussing  a  topic  in  school  a  pupil  would  say,  "We  have  a 
book  at  home  which  tells  about  that."  In  such  cases  he  was  requested  to  bring  it 
to  the  school.  The  passage  was  read  aloud,  and  the  book  then  returned  to  the  owner, 
or,  with  his  consent,  put  upon  the  shelves  for  future  use.  I  do  not  think  there  were 
ever  more  than  twenty-five  volumes  iu  that  library,  but  it  was  used  daily  by  the 
scholars  and  their  teacher. 

When,  under  the  law  of  1871,  the  school-district  library  was  introduced,  some 
of  Dickens's  works  were  included  in  it,  notwithstanding  the  objections  to  furnishing 
novels  to  school  children  or  to  the  community.  (Letter  from  Mrs.  Pierre  Henri 
13ousquet,  of  Fella,  Iowa.) 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  189 

Not  until  1871  came  the  hour  and  the  man  to  accomplish  this  desired 
result.  In  that  year  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  Niles,  of  Madison,  became  a 
member  of  the  house  of  assembly  and,  the  next  year,  its  presiding  officer. 
The  school  district  library  law  was  drawn  by  him  and  was  passed 
chiefly  through  his  influence.  With  only  a  slight  verbal  change,  it 
exists  to-day  as  when  first  drawn,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  treasurer  of  the  State,  upon  the  order  of  the  State  superinteudent  of  educa- 
tion, is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  pay  over  the  sum  of  $20  out  of  any  money 
that  may  be  in  the  public  treasury,  to  every  public  school  for  which  there  shall 
have  been  raised  by  subscription  or  entertainment  a  like  sum  for  the  same  purpose, 
to  establish  in  such  school  a  school  librarj'  and  to  procure  philosophical  and  chem- 
ical apparatus;  and  the  further  sum  of  $10  annually  iipou  a  like  order  to  the  said 
public  school  on  condition  that  there  shall  have  been  raised  by  subscription  or 
entertainment  a  like  sum  for  such  year  for  the  purposes  aforesaid.' 

This  law  was  calculated  to  conciliate  and  develop  the  good  qualities 
of  the  people  rather  than  to  antagonize  them.  The  imposition  of  a  tax 
will  sometimes  be  resisted  even  by  those  who  would  be  willing  to  con- 
tribute voluntarily  for  the  same  purpose. 

It  is  almost  always  possible  to  obtain  $10  or  $20  for  a  school  library 
as  a  voluntary  gift  or  through  means  of  an  entertainment  by  the  school 
when  it  is  known  that  the  State  stands  ready  to  furnish  an  equal 
amount  for  this  purpose. 

The  originator  of  this  act  gave  much  thought  and  time  to  the  prepa- 
ration of  four  lists  of  books  suitable  for  libraries,  with  titles,  names  of 
publishers,  and  the  low  prices  at  which  he  had  induced  them  to  ofter 
the  books  thus  recommended.  In  preparing  these  lists  he  was  greatly 
assisted  by  Miss  Maria  Nixon,  a  granddanghter  of  the  late  Governor 
Haines,  who  personally  examined  every  book  not  already  known  to 
her.  As  a  consequence  of  such  efforts  district  school  libraries  now 
exist  in  more  than  two- thirds  of  the  public  schoolhouses  in  New  Jersey, 
and  their  number  is  still  increasing. 

In  1855  an  act  was  passed  putting  Webster's  Unabridged  Dictionary 
into  every  public  school  in  the  State.  In  1850  Lippincofct's  Gazetteer 
of  the  W^orld  was  furnished  in  like  manner.  And  on  the  completion  of 
the  geological  survey  of  the  State,  "  properly  prepared  coi)ies  of  the 
final  reports  and  maps  of  the  results  of  the  said  survey"  were  pro- 
vided for  every  public  school.  The  appropriation  for  this  is  not  yet 
exhausted. 

Afterwards  Arnold  Guyot's  map  of  the  United  States  was  also  fur- 
nished to  all  public  schools  applying  for  it.  All  these  have  proved  very 
useful,  and  the  probability  now  is  that  in  the  not  distant  future  the 
money  appropriated  for  school  libraries  will  be  expended  entirely  for 
books  of  reference.  Every  school  needs  a  reference  library,  and  this 
need  is  more  and  more  felt.  The  money  appropriated  for  this  purpose 
can  lawfully  be  used  also  for  the  purchase  of  chemical  and  philosoph- 
ical apparatus. 

'  General  Statutes,  p.  3034,  section  110. 


190  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Ill  1878  the  state  superiuteudeut  was  autliorizecl  aud  directed  "to 
l^lace  in  every  public  school  of  this  State  applying  for  the  same  one 
simplest  set  of  apparatus  to  teach  the  metric  system  of  weights  and 
measures."  The  appropriation  for  this  purpose  is  exhausted,  but 
another  will  i^robably  be  made  whenever  there  is  a  general  desire  to 
become  familiar  with  this  newer  and  better  system  of  weights  and 
measures. 

In  1890  an  act  was  passed  putting  into  all  schools  of  the  State  a 
reprint  of  Smith's  History  of  Xew  Jersey,  the  first  history  of  the  State 
ever  written,  printed  at  Burlington  in  1765.^ 

In  1891  a  law  Avas  enacted  for  the  establishment  in  each  county  of  a 
library  of  pedagogical  books  for  the  use  of  teachers  in  the  public 
schools.  This  was  modeled  after  the  law  for  school  libraries.  When- 
ever in  any  county  8100  is  voluntarily  contributed  for  a  teachers'  library 
the  State  gives  another  hundred  for  the  foundation,  and  $50  annually 
thereafter  for  the  increase  of  the  library  on  condiMon  of  the  voluntary 
contribution  of  $50  for  the  same  pu  pose.  There  are  already  such  ped- 
agogical libraries  in  existence  in  Bergen,  Camden,  Essex,  Middlesex, 
Monmouth,  Morris,  Salem,  Somerset,  and  Sussex  counties,  and  the 
teachers  and  officers  of  the  schools  are  now  giving  special  attention  to 
the  fostering  of  this  movement. 

Superintendents  fiutl  no  difficulty  in  raising  the  requisite  funds,  and  library  com- 
mittees are  consulting  the  best  literary  taste  and  ability  available  in  the  selection  of 
books.  It  is  predicted  by  leading  educators  that  this  measure  will  do  more  toward 
elevating  the  teacher's  vocation  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession  than  the  combined 
enactments  of  many  previous  years. - 

This  library  is  sometimes  divided  and  parts  of  it  are  located  tempo- 
rarily in  different  parts  of  the  county.  These  sections  might  be  called 
"  loan  libraries,"  or  "  traveling  libraries." 

In  1894  it  was  made  the  duty  of  each  local  board  of  education  "  to 
provide  text-books  and  other  necessary  school  supplies,  and  loan  the 
same  free  to  all  the  pupils."  Under  this  law  the  plan  of  introducing 
literature  into  the  reading  classes,  to  take  the  place  of  reading  books, 
has  been  tried  with  great  success,  and  it  will  probably  be  adopted  in 
many  of  the  best  schools.  Where  it  has  been  tried  "  no  one  would 
dream  of  returning  to  the  reading  book." 

In  Trenton  the  books  are  supplied  in  sets  of  50  in  a  case.  Principals  may  draw  any 
set  on  the  list,  and  returu  it  to  the  office  at  the  end  of  three  months,  or  before;  if  a 
class  huishes  a  set  of  books  in  less  than  three  montlis  the  set  may  be  returned  at  once. 
Thus  the  class  has  the  privilege  of  reading  as  many  sets  of  books  as  its  proticieucy 
will  permit.^ 

'  A  satisfactory  history  of  New  .Jersey  from  the  beginning  until  now  is  still  a 
desideratum,  though  two  citizens  of  Trenton  have  each  collected  a  vast  amount  of 
material  for  such  a  history. 

-  Report  of  State  Superintendent  C.  J.  Baxter  for  the  school  year  ending  June  30, 
1896. 

^'B.  C.  Gregory,  supervising  principal,  in  the  State  superintendent's  report  for 
1896. 


I  PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  191 

Publishers  are  now  vieing  with  each  other  iu  the  effort  to  supplj^  at 
low  prices  for  use  in  the  schools  the  shorter  treatises  of  standard  authors 
which  are  interesting  to  children  and  youth. 

Comparison  of  this  method  of  teaching  with  that  of  the  early  part  of 
the  century  indicates  a  degree  of  progress  almost  incredible.  And 
the  progress  is  largelj^  due  to  the  facilities  afforded  by  providing 
proper  books  for  the  purpose. 

But  all  these  excellent  laws  were  insuflicieut  to  satisfy  the  ever- 
increasing  desire  for  the  universal  diffusion  of  intelligence.  They  are 
all  but  stepping-stones  to  a  higher  level  to  which  we  are  just  now 
beginning  to  attain.  And  for  this  further  step  we  are  again  indebted, 
as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  chiefly  to  one  man,  whose  altruism  was  of  an 
enduring  nature.  This  time  "the  man  with  a  mission"  was  William 
Prall. 

A  native  of  Paterson,  a  doctor  of  philosophy  of  the  University  of 
Heidelberg,  a  successful  lawyer,  he  recognized  the  fact  that  intelli- 
gence and  virtue  are  essential  to  the  perpetuity  of  free  institutions, 
and  that  x>ublic  libraries  are  among  the  most  efficient  means  to  this 
end.  At  one  time  he  "hired  a  hall"  and  lectured  on  the  topic,  with  no 
immediate  result,  however.  He  accepted  the  office  of  assemblyman 
and  made  it  the  occasion  of  realizing  his  cherished  desire.  He  drafted 
a  bill  which  included  a  referendum  clause,  that  required  city  authorities 
to  submit  the  question  of  the  establishment  of  a  library  under  this 
act  to  the  decision  of  the  people  at  the  tirst  municipal  election  follow- 
ing the  ensuing  Fourth  of  July. 

After  the  act  was  passed  Dr.  Prall  took  care  that  the  question 
should  be  properly  submitted  to  the  voters  in  Paterson.  He  drafted 
the  advertisement,  saw  that  it  was  published  in  the  newspapers,  and 
affixed  in  live  public  places,  as  the  law  required. 

A  mass  meeting  of  citizens  was  called,  the  subject  discussed,  and 
committees  appointed  to  visit  the  municipal  conventions  of  the  two 
political  parties,  respectively,  and  request  them  to  print  upon  their 
city  ballots  "For  a  free  library."  Of  one  of  these  committees  Dr. 
Prall  was  the  chairman.  By  such  j)ersistent  work  he  succeeded  in 
securing  the  establishment  of  a  free  public  library,  flrst  of  all  iu  his 
own  native  city.  He  was  confident  that  if  Paterson  adopted  the  act 
other  cities  would  follow  the  examj^le,  and  he  knew  that  a  very  slight 
amendment  to  the  law  would  remove  its  transitory  feature  and  make 
it  universally  available.  In  accordance  with  this  intent  the  law  was 
afterwards  amended  and  made  permanent;  and  other  laws  have  been 
enacted  since,  carrying  out  into  further  detail  the  ideas  underlying  the 
act  of  April  1, 1884.' 

'William  Prall,  tlie  originator  of  free  libraries  in  New  Jersey,  was  born  in  Pater- 
son A])ril  6,  1853.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Holland,  the  Huguenot,  and  St.  Nicholas 
societies  of  New  York,  and  also  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars.  He  was  educated 
iu  New  England  and  in  Germany;  graduated  from  Columbia  College  Law  School; 


192  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  law  requires  that  a  tax  of  oue-third  of  a  mill  on  every  dollai' 
worth  of  taxable  property  shall  be  levied  bj"  the  tax  authorities  oi 
every  city  which  by  a  majority  vote  declares  iu  favor  of  a  free  public 
library.  This  i^rovisiou  has  worked  admirably-.  It  has  secured  a  sufli- 
cient  amount  of  money  for  the  purpose.  This  makes  it  unnecessary 
for  the  friends  of  the  libraries  to  do  lobby  work  or  to  make  any  bar- 
gains of  any  kind  with  the  boards  of  aldermen  and  the  tax  authorities 

The  design  was  to  form  a  perfect  and  distinct  corporation,  to  tie  it 
to  the  cit}'  and  to  the  i)ublic  school  system,  and  yet  not  to  place  it 
under  municipal  authority,  and  to  keep  the  library  out  of  the  play  of 
party  jjolitics.  This  plan  has  succeeded.  The  mayor  of  the  city  has 
the  aj)pointment  of  five  trustees  origin  all}',  and  thereafter  one  trustev'^ 
every  year,  the  term  being  five  years,  and  his  appointments  are  with- 
out revision.  He  himself  is  ex  officio  trustee,  and  so  is  the  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction.  The  free  public  libraries  of  New  Jersey 
are  a  part  of  the  educational  system  of  the  State,  They  are  not  boards 
or  commissions,  but  irdependent  and  distinct  corporations,  with  full 
l)owers  to  do  all  things  necessary  to  carry  out  the  intention  of  the 
library  as  the  supplement  to  the  school, 

April  2,  1890,  the  p-  "vilege  of  establishing  free  public  libraries  was 
also  granted  by  a  sii  ilar  law  to  all  the  minor  niunicii)alities  of  the 
State.     This  law  provides: 

That  any  town,  townsliii),  or  other  luuiiicipaliry  in  this  State  be,  and  is  hereby, 
authorized,  iu  the  manner  liereinafter  providetl,  to  establisli  a  free  public  library 
within  its  corporate  limits. 

That  tlie  provisions  of  this  act  shall  remain  inoperative  in  any  town,  township, 
or  other  munit-ipality  iu  this  State  until  assented  to  by  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters 
thereof,  voting  on  tliis  act  at  any  tdectiou  at  whicli  the  question  of  its  adoption  shall 
be  submitted  to  a  vote  by  direction  of  the  legislative  body  of  such  town,  township, 
or  other  municipality. 

That  if  at  such  election  aforesaid  a  majority  of  all  the  ballots  cast  shall  be  "For 
a  free  ]mblic  library"  it  sliall  become  the  duty  of  the  legislative  body  of  said  town, 
township,  or  other  nnmicipality  annually  thereafter  to  appropriate  and  raise  by  tax 
in  the  same  manner  as  other  taxes  are  assessed,  levied,  and  collected  in  said  town, 
township,  or  other  municipality  a  sum  eqnal  to  one-third  of  a  mill  on  every  dollar 
of  assessable  ])roperty  returned  by  the  assessor  of  said  town,  township,  or  other 
municipality  for  the  purposes  of  taxation  therein. 

■was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  New  York  and  in  New  Jersey,  and  built  up  a  successful 
practice  in  Paterson.  As  a  member  of  the  legislature,  he  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  banks  and  insurance,  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  the  judiciary, 
and  had  charge  of  the  railway  taxation  measures.  His  altruism  developing  logi- 
cally, he  abandoned  his  law  practice,  studied  divinity,  and  in  1><86  became  a  dea- 
con and  in  1887  a  priest  of  the  Protestant  Ei)iscopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 
While  rector  of  a  church  in  South  Orange  he  became  the  principal  founder  and  lirst 
jiresident  of  the  New  Jersey  Liljrary  Association.  In  1891,  to  the  great  regret  of 
the  friends  of  i>ublic  libraries  in  New  Jersey,  he  accei)ted  a  call  to  become  rector  of 
St.  John's  Church  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  still  i)erforins.  In 
1892  the  degree  of  S.  T.  D.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Hobart  T'ollege.  In  1895  he 
published  a  volume  of  sermons  on  "Civic  Christianity." 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  193 

March  iiO,  1895,  it  was  euacted: 

That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  township  coniiiiitteo  or  the  board  of  trustees  or 
other  goveruing  body  of  any  township  or  village  or  borough  in  this  State  to  raise 
by  taxation  any  sum  not  exceeding  $1,000  annually  to  aid  jjublic  libraries  and  free 
reading  rooms  in  any  such  municipality  in  this  State,  provided  the  same  be  first 
assented  to  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  legal  voters  of  any  such  municipality  at  their 
annual  election. 

The  trustees  of  each  library  established  under  these  laws  have  power 

to  make  proper  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  said  library,  and  gen- 
erally to  do  all  things  necessary  and  proper  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  the  free  public  librarj'. 

Those  who  have  accepted  this  trust  are  discharging-  it  with  a  wisdom 
and  zeal  worthy  of  all  commendation.  Accepting  the  office  for  the  good 
of  humanity  and  the  welfare  of  the  State,  they  are  administering  it  to 
this  end.  They  appoint  librarians  who  have  both  ability  and  inclina- 
tion to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  community. 

Of  late  years  it  has  come  to  be  understood  that  books  are  designed 
to  he  read,  and  it  is  the  chief  object  of  the  trustees  and  librarians  to 
secure  the  realization  of  this  design.  All  else  is  subservient  thereto. 
Under  iiroper  restrictions  those  who  use  the  library  have  now  imme- 
diate access  to  the  shelves,  and  not  only  tables  , and  seats  but  also  paper 
and  pencil  or  pen  and  ink  are  furnished.  The  consequence  is  that, 
though  New  Jersey  has  as  yet  only  fourteen  libraries  entirely  free  to 
the  public,  there  were  issued  from  these  libraries  for  home  use  during 
the  year  ending  April  1,  1896,  1,100,220  volumes.  Besides  this,  books 
were  issued  for  use  in  tlie  library  to  the  number  of  47,806. 

There  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  number  of  readers  since  1890. 
In  189  L  the  books  drawn  from  New  Jersey  libraries  were  11  to  each 
hundred  of  the  population.     In  1896  there  were  49  to  the  hundred. ^ 

It  may  be  considered  settled  that  fiee  public  libraries  are  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  system  of  public  education,  both  of  adults  and  of  chil- 
dren. Wherever  a  free  public  library  exists,  there  children  also  can 
be  seen  tlocking  to  it  after  school  hours  to  read  upon  the  subjects  of 
their  lessons  or  other  topics. 

The  Free  Public  Library  of  New  Brunswick,  a  city  of  about  20,000 
inhabitants,  with  about  15,000  volumes  in  the  library,  may  be  taken  as 
an  average  specimen. 

The  use  of  the  books  for  reference  by  school  children,  and  by  others 
studying  special  subjects,  has  largely  increased  in  the  past  few  years. 

The  rules  provide  that  a  person  shall  draw  but  one  book  in  a  day. 
Beyond  enforcing  this  rule  and  aiding  in  the  selection  of  books,  the 
librarians  have  no  power  to  control  the  issue  of  books,  but  they 
endeavor  to  cooperate  with  the  proper  authorities  if  so  re(]uested. 

1  For  an  exceedingly  valuable  statement  respecting  the  public,  society,  and  school 
libraries  in  the  United  States,  see  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for 
1895-96,  pp.  339-599  (issued  separately,  also). 

20687— No.  23 13 


194  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

When  a  child  is  found  to  be  reading  more  than  he  ought,  in  jtistice 
to  his  study,  work,  or  exercise  (and  such  comj)laints  are  sometimes 
heard),  a  consultation  Adth  the  head  librarian  is  requested. 

Books  are  issued  for  home  use  to  all  persons  of  10  years  of  age  and 
upward  on  their  agreement,  with  guarantee,  to  return  them  in  good 
condition  or  pay  for  them  if  lost. 

The  reading  room  coritains  58  periodicals,  for  use  in  the  building  only. 
The  8  magazines  circulated  are  in  constant  demand.^ 

The  use  of  the  library  by  children  has  largely  increased.  The  books 
whicli  are  furnished  them  have  been  carefully  selected,  and  include 
books  of  travel,  history,  biography,  and  elementary  books  of  science, 
in  addition  to  story  books.  The  children's  lists  are  selected  from  the 
whole  library  and  contain  whatever,  in  the  judgment  of  the  librarian, 
is  suited  to  young  readers  and  will  arouse  their  interest  in  the  things 
they  will  need  to  know. 

During  almost  every  afternoon  and  evening  of  the  winter  the  chil- 
dren's room  has  been  filled  with  a  well-behaved  company  of  girls  and 
boys,  intently  reading  the  books  and  magazines  provided  for  thein 
there. 

The  reading  rooms  are  open  to  all  persons  from  9  a.  m.  to  0  p.  m.  daily, 
Sundays  and  four  holidays  excepted. 

The  titles  of  new  books  are  placed  at  once  on  the  bulletin  board,  and 
typewritten  lists  (subject  and  author),  continuing  the  printed  catalogue, 
are  frequently  made.  The  classified  catah»gue,  with  author  list,  is  in 
daily  use. 

The  librarian's  report  shows  a  circulation  of  54,586  volumes  for  home 
use,  with  32,193  readers  in  the  rooms.  In  1892  the  number  of  books 
taken  for  home  use  was  22,749  and  the  number  of  readers  was  10,525. 
This  increase  during  five  years,  showing  the  appreciation  of  the  i)rivi- 
leges  of  the  library  by  the  citizens,  is  most  encouraging.  The  percent- 
age of  fiction  and  juvenile  literature  was  7G  per  cent;  of  fiction  alone, 
54  per  cent.  Kon fiction  cards  have  been  used,  245  having  been  issued. 
Teachers'  cards,  on  which  they  are  allowed  several  books,  to  be  kept 
six  weeks  before  renewal,  are  also  in  use.  The  largest  number  of  books 
given  out  on  anyone  day  was  431;  the  smallest  was  68  (Decoration 
Da.y).     The  daily  average  was  144.^ 

The  modern  librarian  and  the  modern  teacher  Avork  together  in 

leading  children  from  the  earliest  age  into  the  wonderful  and  beautiful  book  -world 
of  ])()etry,  legend,  Btory,  nature  knowledge  or  science,  time  knowledge  or  history, 
life  knowledge  or  biograidiy,  making  it  dear  and  familiar  to  them  in  the  im})ression- 
able  years  within  which  their  tastes  are  iormed. ' 

The  New  Jersey  Library  Association,  organized  December  29,  1890, 
in  the  city  of  Trenton,  is  devoting  itself  to  making  the  Free  Library  as 
common  and  as  effective  as  the  free  school.^ 

'  Report  of  1896. 
2  Report  of  18i)7. 

3.1.  N.  Larned,  late  superinteiulent  of  the  ButValo  Free  Library. 
^I  was  fortunate  enough,  after  an  absence  of  many  years,  to  return  to  my  native 
State  in  time  to  become  one  of  the  founders  of  tbA  New  .Jersey  Library  Association, 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  195 

To  this  eud  it  holds  meetings,  and  by  public  addresses,  by  the  public 
press,  by  private  correspondence,  and  in  every  practicable  way  endeav- 
ors to  direct  attention  to  this  matter.  Messrs.  William  E.  Weeks,  E.  C. 
Eichardson,  and  John  B.  Thompson,  members  of  a  committee  of  this 
association,  were  in  attendance  upon  the  legislature  duriug  the  session 
of  1896  and  succeeded  in  securing  the  passage  of  a  bill  to  establish  a 
library  commission,  the  members  of  which  should  serve  without  com- 
pensation, in  order  to  secure  for  all  our  citizens  advantages  like  those 
which  have  resulted  from  the  work  of  such  commissions  in  Kew  England, 
Ohio,  Wisconsin,  and  elsewhere;  but  the  governor  refused  to  sign  the 
bill.  The  next  year  the  women's  clubs  of  the  State  induced  him  to 
recommend,  however,  an  appropriation  of  $3,500  to  inaugurate  and 
one  of  1 1,000  annually  to  maintaia  and  extend  "traveling  libraries"  in 
New  Jersey.  The  legislature  passed  a  bill  to  this  effect  and  Governor 
Voorhees  signed  it;  but  no  appropriation  was  made  to  carry  it  into 
effect.  The  women's  clubs,  nevertheless,  i^ersevered  in  their  endeavors, 
establishing  a  few  traveling  libraries  by  private  eftbrt  and  demonstrat- 
ing the  importance  of  the  movement  so  successfully  that  at  the  next 
session  of  the  legislature  an  appropriation  was  made  which  will  allow 
the  law  to  go  into  effect  in  the  autumn  of  1890.  Its  administration  is 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  commissioners  of  the  State  Library;  and  it 
is  hoped  that  they  will  make  that  library  a  center  for  the  diffusion  of 
information  and  the  awakening  of  interest  in  the  establishment  of  free 
libraries  throughout  the  State,  thus  accomplishing  the  beneficent  work 
done  elsewhere  (save  in  the  State  of  New  York)  by  library  commis- 
sions.' Our  intelligent  people  are  beginning  to  understand  that  a 
library  is  as  important  as  a  school,  that  the  taste  for  good  reading  is 
the  true  door  to  culture,  and  that  if  a  young  person  really  acquires  a 
taste  for  good  reading  he  will  surely  attain  to  a  degree  of  culture 
which  no  school  can  give. 

Plutarch  tells  us  that  the  fair  fabric  of  justice  raised  by  Numa 
passed  away  rapidly  because  it  was  not  founded  upon  education. 
Eecent  social  and  political  events  are  convincing  thoughtful  i)eople 
everywhere  of  the  need  of  industrial,  intellectual  and  ethical  culture 


as  I  liad  been  one  of  the  foanders  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Teachers'  Association 
Ihe  charter  members  were:  Emma  L.  Adams,  Mrs.  R.  W.  Barber,  Mrs.  T.  A.  Bell,  Miu 
nie  Blackwell,  Nettie  Chamberlain,  Miss  H.  H.  Crane.  Mrs.  G.  B.  Cunningham.  Mary  S 
Cutler,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Esterly,  Prof.  B.  C.  Gregory,  J.  T.  Hatfield,  Alfred  C.  Hertzog, 
Frank  P.  Hill,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hunt,  B.  B.  Hutchinson,  Mary  C.  Johnston,  Charlotte  Juhre 
JMissKoester,  Alfred  S.  Marshall,  William  B.  Morningstern,  Martha F.  Nelson,  Nathan 
iel  Niles,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Orr,  Belmont  Perry,  Rev.  Wm.  Frail,  Cornelia  Prior,  Prof.  E.  C 
Richardson,  Prof.  A.  .1.  Rider,  Grace  H.  See,  .Josephine  Stansbury,  Morris  H.  Stratton 
Johu  Bodine  Thompson,  Caroline  M.  Underbill,  Irving  S.  Upson,  Rachel  A.  Vogt; 
Wm.  R.  Weeks,  George  F.  Winchester,  Beatrice  Winser,  Mrs.  George  Wood. 

'The  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  in  his  Report  for  1895-96,  pp.  527, 
52S,  declares  that  a  State  library  commission  is  an  imi)ortant  i)rovisiou  for  a  State 
library  law,  in  order  that  the  commission  may  "give  advice  and  instruction  in 
organization  and  administration,  receive  re])orts  from  all  public  libraries  of  the 
State  and  render  rei)ort;  manage  the  distribution  of  State  aid;  manage  system  of 
traveling  libraries." 


196  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEW   JERSEY. 

for  botli  childreu  aud  adults.  Statesmen  and  philosophers  are  begin- 
ning to  see  clearly  that  a  free  republic  can  be  perpetuated  only  by 
education  in  all  these  jiarticulars,  and  that  this  education  must  con- 
tinue all  lifelong.  But  it  can  be  made  continuous  and  general  only  by 
free  libraries,  and  these  easy  of  access. 

Experience  has  shown  that  many  people  who  will  not  go  far  out  of  the  way  to 
secure  hooks  for  home  reading  will  use  a  library  if  its  books  can  he  brought  con- 
veniently near  to  them.  The  reader  needs  stimulating,  and  in  order  to  reach  him 
in  towns  covering  large  areas  or  having  distinct  centers  of  poijulation  several 
enterprising  libraries  have  established  branches  or  delivery  stations  at  points  suffi- 
ciently accessible  to  overcome  this  natural  inertia  inherent  in  the  general  reader.' 

October  31,  1891,  the  Jersey  City  Free  Public  Library  opened  seven 
such  delivery  stations  and  soon  increased  them  to  eleven,  located  from 
1  to  4  miles  from  the  library.  At  the  World's  Library  Congress  in 
Chicago,  in  1893,  Mr.  George  Watson  Cole,  the  superintendent,  said: 

Collections  are  made  in  the  morning  and  deliveries  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day  by  a  hired  delivery  wagon.  About  $2,000  a  year  is  now  paid  for  transportation. 
The  station  keepers  are  paid  one-third  of  a  cent  for  each  volume  or  borrower's  card 
returned  to  the  lil)rary.  The  total  circulation  for  the  year  ending  November  30, 
1892,  was  172,225  volumes,  or  49.9  per  cent  of  the  total  circulation  for  home  reading.'- 

Thus  the  circulation  was  practically  doubled  by  the  use  of  delivery 
stations. 

The  Ii^ewark  Free  Public  Library  has  seven  outstatious.  The  last 
report  covers  the  period  from  December  1,  1895,  to  December  31,  1896, 
thirteen  months.  During  this  period  "  the  circulation  of  books  through 
the  delivery  stations  continued  to  increase  month  by  month.  The  daily 
average  was  216,  against  200  in  1895." 

Mr.  Frank  P.  Hill,  the  librarian  (who,  since  the  departure  of  Dr. 
Prall,  is  foremost  in  the  movement  for  free  libraries),  proposes  to  make 
each  of  the  48  city  schools  a  station  under  the  care  of  the  principal, 
furnishing  to  each  school  a  library  of  50  volumes,  from  time  to  time. 
He  says: 

Each  library  would  be  kept  by  itself  in  a  case  containing,  besides  the  books,  an 
easily  understood  charging  system.  In  a  word,  these  would  be  traveling  libraries 
similar  to  those  in  use  in  the  New  York  State  Library,  for  the  recommendation  is 
that  tbt'  library  should  be  sent  to  a  school  and  retained  there  fur  a  given  time,  say 
four  to  six  weeks,  .and  then  transferred  to  another  school,  ami  at  the  expii'ation  of 
th(!  time  sent  to  a  third  school,  and  so  on,  thus  giving  each  school  a  chance  at  several 
liundred  books  during  the  year.' 

'  George  Watson  Cole,  Public  Librarian  of  Jersey  City. 

-Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1892-93.  Vol.  1, 
p.  715. 

•'Report  for  1896,  p.  21.  In  this  passage  the  example  of  the  State  of  New  York 
is  cited.  It  is  but  four  years  since  the  experiment  was  begun  there,  aud  now  libra- 
ries of  25  or  50  or  ICO  volumes  are  sent  out  under  proper  restrictions  to  any  part  of 
the  State,  where  they  will  be  ])ropcrly  cared  for  and  duly  returned.  After  the  sys- 
tem had  been  in  operation  a  little  more  than  two  years,  and  140  of  these  traveling 
libraries  were  in  circulation,  the  records  showed  that  40,000  people  had  read  the 


PUBLIC    LIBRARIES.  197 

Tbis  recommendatiou  has  been  ado])ted,  and  such  traveling  libraries, 
I  believe,  furnished  to  each  of  the  schools,  and  also  to  the  firemen  at 
their  places  of  rendezvous.  The  example  thus  set  will  doubtless  be 
followed  also  by  other  municipalities  throughout  the  State. 

Free  public  libraries  have  already  been  established  in  Paterson,  Jer- 
sey City,  Newark,  !N"ew  Brunswick,  Bayonne,  Hoboken,  Montclair, 
Orange,  South  Orange,  Passaic,  Bloomfield,  Elizabeth,  Woodbury,  and 
Asbury  Park,  and  Trenton  is  now  moving  in  the  same  direction.  It  is 
believed  that  when  the  people  of  the  State  generally  know  that  every 
city,  town,  and  township  may  have  such  a  library  many  of  them  will  be 
glad  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  proffered  under  our  excellent 
laws. 

Because  of  its  peculiar  situation  between  the  great  cities  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  Xew  Jersey  has  in  its  cities  also  a  large  tene- 
ment i^opulation,  for  which  the  law  of  self-preservation  will  compel  us 
to  i)rovide  i)roper  means  of  education.  And  this  education  must  begin 
at  the  earliest  age.  Boston,  Albany,  and  Chicago  have  set  us  the 
example  of  providing  for  snch  "children's  home  libraries;''  and  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  here,  as  elsewhere,  there  will  be  found  men  and 
women  glad  to  use  their  means  for  such  beneficent  purpose  when  once 
we  have  a  State  library  commission  disseminating  information  and 
directing  the  administration  of  so  beneficent  a  trust.^ 

More  and  more  everywhere  men  and  women  of  wealth  and  culture 
are  erecting  and  endowing  buildings  for  libraries  which  will  conduce 
to  the  welfare  of  their  communities  in  which  they  are  erected  during 
all  time  to  come. 

In  New  Jersey,  as  elsewhere,  the  importance  and  necessity  of  the 
right  kind  of  an  education  is  more  and  more  appreciated.  More  and 
more  is  it  understood  that  human  beings  should  be  not  merely  crammed 
with  a  knowledge  of  facts,  but  that  all  their  faculties  must  be  really 
and  harmoniously  developed. 

Skillful  teachers  and  librarians  no  longer  consider  it  their  chief  duty 
to  pour  information  into  minds  not  always  receptive,  but  rather  to 
stimulate  and  direct  research,  to  quicken  perception,  and  strengthen 
the  power  to  reason.     The  design  is  worthy  of  intellectual  and  ethical 

books  thus  furuished.  The  cards  returned  showed  that  in  places  where  books  were 
scarce,  and  the  children,  therefore,  hungry  for  reading  matter,  one  person  had  read 
38  of  them.     Others  had  read,  each,  32,  31,  27,  25,  24,  etc. 

The  library  commission  of  Massachusetts  began  its  work  five  years  ago.  In  that 
State  there  are  353  towns  (or  townships,  as  they  are  called  in  New  Jersey).  Of  these 
only  24  are  still  without  a  free  public  library,  and  they  contain  less  than  2  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  the  State. 

'  The  Wisconsin  free  library  commission,  established  in  1895,  has  its  office  in  the 
State  capital,  whence  it  sends  out  information  and  suggestions  and  furnishes  coun- 
sel and  aid  to  individuals  and  communities.  Its  last  report  shows  a  great  increase 
in  the  number  of  both  local  and  traveling  libraries.  It  supervises  the  circulation  of 
old  magazines  furnished  for  the  purpose,  and  has,  in  one  county,  also  a  set  of  "trav 
eling  pictures." 


198  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION   IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

creatures.  It  contemplates  what  seems  to  be  the  truest  ideal  of  teach- 
ing ever  shaped  in  thought,  of  teaching  not  as  educating,  but  as  the 
setting  of  the  young  in  the  way  of  education,  as  starting  them  on.  a 
course  of  self-culture  w^hich  they  will  pursue  to  the  end  of  their  lives, 
with  no  willingness  to  turn  back.  The  highest  idea  of  education  is 
realized  in  the  lifelong  pursuit  of  it;  and  success  is  measured,  not  by 
the  little  portion  of  actual  learning  which  is  acquired  in  a  brief  period, 
but  by  the  persisting  strength  of  the  impulse  to  know  and  to  think, 
and  to  act  aright,  which  is  carried  into  all  the  duties  of  life.' 

This  is  the  goal  toward  which  our  entire  system  of  education  in  New 
Jersey  is  now  happily  tending;  and  the  progress  it  has  already  made 
in  this  direction  can  not  otherwise  than  be  a  source  of  gratification  and 
satisfaction  to  all  jjrivileged  to  help  on  the  movement. 

The  ancient  i>oet  has  told  us  of  the  Titan  who,  at  infinite  cost  to 
himself,  first  brought  fire  from  heaven  to  earth,  hiding  it  in  a  hollow 
reed  until  by  dint  of  rapid  running  he  reached  the  habitations  of  men. 
In  grateful  recollection  and  humble  imitation  of  so  divine  a  deed,  the 
Lampas  race  was  run.  It  was  a  relay  race.  Each  athlete  seized  the 
torch  from  the  hand  of  the  runner  who  preceded  him  and  rushed 
onward  with  it  through  the  darkness,  braving  all  dangers.  So  the 
torchlight  of  truth  goes  ever  forward,  radiating  brightness  and  bless- 
ing; and  blessed  and  hapi)y  the  light  bearer  as  he  ruus  dissii)atiiig 
the  darkness  with  his  torch,  careless  of  all  if  at  last  he  may  give  it 
into  the  hands  of  another  good  runner. 

Enough,  if  something  from  our  hands  has  power 

To  live,  and  act,  and  serve  the  future  hour; 

And  if,  as  toward  the  silent  tomb  we  go, 

Through  L>ve,  through  hojie,  and  faith's  transcendent  dower, 

We  feel  that  we  are  greater  than  we  know. 

'  J.  N.  Earned,  late  superintendent  of  the  Butfalo  Free  Library. 


Chapter  IX. 

PRINCETON   UNIVERSITY.^ 


By  Eev.  John  1»k  Witt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Class  of  1861, 
Professor  in  Princeton  Theoloyieal  Seminary. 


I.    THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    rXlVEKSITY    LIFE    IX   AMERICA. 

The  course  of  study  pursued  in  American  colleges,  the  goal  of  which 
is  au  education  described  distinctively  as  humane  or  liberal,  is  easily 
traced  to  the  seven  liberal  arts  which  passed  over  from  the  schools  of 
Greece  and  Rome  to  the  Christian  nations  of  western  Europe.  The 
great  North  African  father,  St.  Augustine,  who  more  than  any  other 
western  writer  determined  the  theology  of  the  Latin  Church,  in  con- 
structing his  system  of  doctrine  gave  character  also  to  the  system  of 
education  which  that  church  accepted  and  promoted.  In  his  essay  on 
the  Christian  doctrine,  he  places  a  high  value  on  the  knowledge  to  be 
derived  and  on  the  discipline  to  be  secured  from  the  books  of  the 
heathen,  as  introductory  to  the  study  of  the  Divine  Eevelation.  And 
the  Divine  Eevelation,  as  thus  newly  apprehended,  becomes,  in  his 
view,  both  the  test  of  truth  and  the  measure  of  intellectual  values.  In 
his  tract,  De  Ordiue,  an  essay  on  the  right  method  of  developiug  the 
powers  of  the  mind,  he  recognizes  seven  as  the  complete  number  of 
the  liberal  arts:  though  it  is  not  easy  in  his  list  to  find  the  trivium,  the 
circle  of  the  formal  arts,  and  the  quadrivium,  the  circle  of  the  material 
arts,  which  afterwards  were  clearly  distinguished. 

From  North  Africa  and  Italy  this  curriculum  was  carried  into  Britain. 
There  it  was  given  a  home,  largely  under  the  inlluence  of  Wilfrid,  who, 
at  the  council  of  Whitby,  in  664,  led  the  Latin  or  Benedictine  party 
and  overbore  the  Celtic  influence  which  threatened  to  command  the 
English  Church  and  to  give  character  to  its  worship  and  its  life.  The 
victory  of  Wilfrid  at  Whitby  resulted  not  only  in  the  adoption  of  the 
western  tonsure  and  the  western  mode  of  computing  the  date  of  Easter, 
but  also  in  the  establishment  in  the  growing  towns  of  Northumbria  of 
schools  for  the  study  of  the  liberal  arts.  Of  these  schools  no  one 
became  more  prominent  or  more  widely  useful  than  the  school  founded 


'  Reprinted  from  The  Presbyterian  au<l  Reformed  Review,  of  1897. 

199 


200  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

by  Egbert,  archbishoi)  of  York,  of  which  Aelbert  became  the  master, 
and  iu  which  Alcuin  received  his  education;  of  which,  also,  Alcuin 
became  first  the  assistant  master,  and  afterwards  the  principal.  It  was 
a  fortunate  event  for  the  western  world  that,  just  at  the  time  w  hen  the 
Lombards  were  laying  waste  the  cities  of  Italy,  this  liberal  education 
found  a  home  in  the  north  of  England;  and  it  was  quite  as  fortunate 
that,  before  the  Danish  invasion  destroyed  the  institutions  of  learning 
in  England,  the  same  curriculum  was  carried  from  England  by  xilcuin 
himself  and,  lai^gely  through  his  labors,  organized  into  monastic  and 
cathedral  schools  in  Charles  the  Great's  Kingdom  of  the  Franks. 

The  interest  of  Charles  iu  the  education  of  his  people  was  sincere 
and  profound;  and  he  could  have  secured  no  one  as  his  minister  of  edu- 
cation better  fitted  than  was  Alcuin,  by  learning  and  ardor  and  indus- 
try, to  organize  a  system  of  schools  for  the  Kingdom.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  the  future  of  large  and  generous  culture  in  western  Europe 
had  never  since  the  breaking  up  of  the  Western  Empire  appeared 
brighter  than  it  did  when,  at  the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  Charle- 
magne was  crowned  in  Rome  as  the  successor  of  Constantine.  But 
with  the  death  of  Charles  and  the  division  of  his  Kingdom,  the  seculum 
obscurum  may  almost  be  said  to  have  commenced.  The  j)Ower  which 
had  been  centralized  in  the  Crown  was  dissipated  throughout  the  Empire. 
Those  who  had  been  the  Emperor's  administrative  agents,  representing 
him  as  lords  of  the  counties,  became  hereditary  and  almost  independent 
sovereigns  over  their  small  domains.  Instead  of  a  strong  monarch,  a 
multitude  of  feudal  lords  ruled  western  Europe.  This  dissipation  of 
power  was  followed  by  disaster  to  some  of  the  highest  interests  of  soci- 
ety. It  substituted  for  a  large  and  imposing  government  a  multitude 
of  small  and  warring  tyrannies.  On  nothing  was  its  influence  more 
disastrous  than  on  the  schools  of  the  liberal  arts  which  Charles  and 
Alcuin  had  labored  so  hard  to  establish  and  endow.  Everywhere  they 
fell  into  decay;  and  with  their  decay  worship  became  more  sensuous 
and  religion  more  superstitious  and  less  moral,  until  there  appeared  no 
good  ground  for  hope  of  a  revival  of  learning,  or  of  a  reformation  of 
religion,  or  of  the  reorganization  of  society. 

Yet  the  institutions  of  modern  civilization  had  not  died.  They  were 
as  an  oak  whose  substance  is  in  it  when  it  casts  its  leaves.  The  tenth 
century,  the  century  of  the  dark  age,  had  not  passed  before  the  Holy 
Boman  Empire  in  its  second  form  was  unified  under  Otho  the  Great; 
and  the  eleventh  century  had  finished  only  half  of  its  course  when  the 
institutions  of  religion  began  to  be  reformed  and  consolidated  under 
the  leadership  of  Ilildebrand.  These  were  the  tokens  and  the  results 
of  a, vital  movement  which  did  not  exhaust  itself  in  the  spheres  of  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  government.  The  energy  of  the  new  life  was  quite 
as  manifest  in  the  sphere  of  pure  thought  which  it  quickened  and  in 
the  educational  institutions  which  it  reformed  or  created.  The  awak- 
ened intellect  of  the  eleventh  century  api)lied  itself  with  an  earnest- 
ness which  has  never  been  surpassed  to  the  study  of  the  great  problems 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  201 

in  pTiilosopliy  and  theology;  and  this  at  many  centers  throaghont 
western  Europe.  For  the  study  of  these  problems  no  better  prepara- 
tion was  found  than  the  curriculum  of  the  schools  of  Charlemagne, 
extended  and  developed  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  new  age.  Less 
emphasis,  indeed,  was  placed  on  classical  culture  and  more  value  was 
attached  to  dialectics  than  in  the  days  of  Charles;  for  the  great  work 
now  consciously  before  the  mind  of  Europe  was  the  organization  and 
defense  of  the  theology  of  the  church  and  its  correlation  to  fundamental 
truth. 

As  a  result  of  this  revival,  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
the  universities  of  mediiieva]  Europe  appeared.  They  appear  so  sud- 
denly and  at  so  many  points  that  it  is  difficult,  in  the  rapidity  of  the 
movement,  to  note  the  several  steps  of  their  historical  development. 
They  appear,  to  mention  only  a  few  of  them,  at  Salerno  and  Bologna 
in  Italy,  at  Paris,  at  Cologne,  and  later  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  They 
were  substantially  guilds  of  students,  gathered  to  listen  to  the  dis- 
courses of  great  lecturers  on  subjects  either  within  the  limits  of  the 
trivlum  and  quadrivium  or  without  those  limits  on  subjects  for  which 
the  study  of  the  trivium  and  quadrivium  had  prepared  them;  or  they 
were  guilds  of  lecturers  who  attracted  students.  On  the  teachers  who 
constituted  the  faculty  of  each  of  these  universities  was  bestowed  by 
the  pope  or  the  monarch  the  privilege  of  teaching,  and  this  developed 
into  the  right  to  grant  licenses  to  teach.  The  license  soon  became  the 
master's  degree  (Magister  Studentium),  which  is  historically  the  first 
of  the  degrees  in  the  liberal  arts.'  At  these  universities,  owing  to  the 
necessities  of  the  students,  colleges  were  soon  established.  These  were 
houses  founded  by  the  munificence  of  the  benevolent  for  a  si^eciflc 
number  of  scholars.  They  were  founded  to  provide  food  and  lodging 
and  personal  instruction  for  their  inmates,  and  to  give  to  them  a  house- 
hold government  and  religious  direction  which  might  hold  them  safe 
amid  the  temptations  of  a  large  and  free  community.  So  Oxford  was 
established  in  the  twelfth  century  and  Cambridge  a  few  years  later. 
At  the  close  of  the  century  Oxford  was  the  seat  of  a  university,  and 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  University  of  Cambridge  was  organ- 
ized with  a  chancellor  as  its  chief  officer.  Around  these  universities 
grew  up  the  colleges — as  University  and  Baliol  at  Oxford,  as  Peter- 
house  and  Pembroke  at  Cambridge — and  the  large  and  beneficent 
influence  of  both  university  and  college  on  the  life  of  England  was 
soon  and  widely  recognized. 

The  earliest  colleges  planted  in  America  not  only  adopted  the  curric- 
ulum of  the  European  universities  and  manifested  their  spirit  in  new 

'A  degree  was  a  license  to  teach.  It  carried  with  it  the  jus  docendi.  Master, 
doctor,  aud  professor  were  at  first  interchangeable  words,  designating  one  who  had 
received  a  license.  The  bachelor  was  a  student  and  apprentice.  He  could  teach 
under  the  direction  and  supervision  of  a  master,  but  not  independently.  Still  he 
had  taken  a  step  (gradum)  toward  the  mastership  or  doctorate,  and  so  may  be  said 
to  have  attained  a  degree  or  been  grailuated. 


202  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

conditions,  but  are  descended  from  them.  Almost  the  youngest  of  the 
colleges  of  Cambridge  is  Emmanuel,  founded  iii  1584.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  its  life  it  was  the  home  of  Puritanism.'  Indeed,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Puritan  movement  this  was  true  of  the  university. 
Before  Emmanuel  College  existed,  as  Mr.  Fronde  has  said,  "Cambridge, 
which  had  been  the  nursery  of  the  reforms,  retained  their  spirit. 
When  Cambridge  oftended  the  government  of  Elizabeth  it  was  by 
oversympathy  with  Cartwright  and  the  Puritans.''  This  sympathy  with 
Puritanism  on  the  part  of  the  university  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  most  intense  in  Emmanuel.  From  Emmanuel  came  the 
most  of  the  founders  of  Harvard.  In  this  way,  just  when  Emmanuel 
College  had  i^assed  the  first  half  century  of  its  existence,  Cambridge 
University  became  the  mother  of  the  oldest  of  the  American  universi- 
ties. Thus,  both  because  of  intellectual  and  religious  sympathy  and 
by  the  mode  of  a  visible  historical  descent,  the  spirit  of  the  institution 
which  had  long  existed  on  the  banks  of  the  Cam  in  England  was 
embodied  in  the  new  institution  of  learning  established  on  the  banks 
of  the  Charles  in  New  England.  So  strong  was  the  sense  of  their 
indebtedness  to  the  university  in  the  mother  country  and  so  intense 
was  the  feeling  of  historical  relationship,  that  the  founders  of  Harvard 
changed  the  name  of  the  village  in  which  the  new  college  was  given  a 
home  from  Newtown  to  Cambridge.  The  college  soon  justified  the  hopes 
of  its  founders — the  hopes  especially  of  that  "  reverend  and  godly 
lover  of  learning"  John  Harvard,  who  endowed  it  with  one-half  of  his 
entire  property  and  from  whom  it  obtained  its  name. 

Sixty-five  years  later  Harvard  College  became,  in  turn,  the  mother 
of  another  college.  For  just  as  Harvard  traces  its  origin  to  graduates 
of  Emmanuel,  Yale  traces  its  beginnings  to  the  Rev.  James  Pierpont, 
a  Harvard  graduate  of  the  class  of  1081,  and  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pier- 
son,  a  Harvard  graduate  of  the  class  of  L6G8.  The  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Earl  Bellamont,  when  addressing  the  general  court  c  f  the  prov- 
ince in  1099,  made  this  remark:  "It  is  a  very  great  advantage  you  have 
above  other  provinces,  that  your  youth  are  not  put  to  travel  for  learning, 
but  have  the  muses  at  their  doors."  It  was  not  only  the  disadvantage 
of  distance  which  the  establishment  of  Harvard  College  overcame,  but 
the  disadvantage  also  which  the  nonconforming  subjects  of  Creat 
Britain  at  that  time  suffered,  of  inability,  because  nonconformists,  to 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  English  universities.  Still,  distance  alone 
was  thought  a  disadvantage  in  Connecticut.  At  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  populatiou  of  the  New  England  colonies  had  rison 

'  ■'Emmanuel  owed  its  orijjfiu  to  the  same  movemeut  of  thought  which  produced 
your  Commonwealth,  aud  the  ideas  which  found  expression  on  the  coast  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  were  fostered  iu  Sir  Walter  Mildmay's  new  college  at  Cambridge. 
Emmanuel  College  was  founded  to  be  a  stronghold  of  the  Puritan  party  in  the  ilays 
when  they  were  waging  a  stubborn  and  determined  war  for  the  possession  of  the 
English  Church." — Prof.  Mandell  Creighton,  Record  of  Harvard  University's  250th 
Anniversary,  p.  277. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  203 

to  100,000;  and  already,  in  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  with  a  population 
of  15,000,  the  need  of  an  institution  of  liberal  learning  was  deejily  felt. 
Like  the  founders  of  the  college  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  those  most  active 
in  founding  Yale  College  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  the  most  of  them 
graduates  of  Harvard.  In  Dexter's  historical  sketch  of  Yale  Univer- 
sity, he  says  that — 

tradition  describes  a  meeting  of  a  few  Counecticnt  pastors  at  Brauford,  the  nest 
town  east  of  New  Haven,  about  the  last  of  September,  1701,  and  implies  that,  to  con- 
stitute a  company  of  founders,  those  then  met  gave  (or,  probablj%  for  themselves  and 
in  the  name  of  their  most  active  associates,  agreed  to  give)  a  collection  of  books  as 
the  foundation  for  a  college  in  the  colony. 

The  college  charter  clearly  indicates  that  the  end  intended  to  be  secured 
by  the  establishment  of  Yale  was  that  which  had  led  to  the  founding 
of  Harvard  and  the  universities  from  which  it  was  descended.  Full 
liberty  and  privileges  were  granted  to  the  undertakers  '"for  the  i'ound- 
ing,  suitably  endowing,  and  ordering  a  collegiate  school  within  His 
Majesty's  colonies  of  Connecticut  wherein  yonth  may  be  instructed  in 
the  arts  and  sciences,  who,  through  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  may 
be  fitted  for  public  employment  in  the  church  and  civil  state."  During 
the  same  year,  1701,  the  trustees  under  the  charter  held  their  first 
meeting,  and  Yale  College  began  its  great  and  beneficent  career. 

Harvard  and  Yale,  with  the  Virginia  college  of  William  and  Mary, 
the  last  founded  by  a  royal  charter  in  1093,  were  the  only  institutions 
of  higher  learning  in  the  colonies  at  the  commencement  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  In  important  respects  they  were  alike  in  origin  and 
aim.  Each  of  them  arose  among  a  homogeneous  people.  Each  was  the 
college  of  a  people  compacted  by  common  religious  beliefs  and  common 
modes  of  worship,  by  common  social  customs  and  ideals.  Each  was 
the  college  of  but  a  single  colony,  separated  from  the  other  colonies  by 
distance,  by  its  special  government,  and  not  seldom  by  confiicting  inter- 
ests. Each  was  a  college  born  of  the  needs  of  the  religious  communion 
which  was  nnited  with  the  state;  and,  what  it  is  si)e('ially  important 
to  notice,  each  was  born  at  a  time  when  the  colonies  stood  separate 
from  one  another,  eachcolony  valuing  most  highly  what  was  distinctive 
in  its  constitution,  and  conscious  only  of  a  loose  union  with  the  other 
colonies  through  the  common  government  across  the  sea.  Each  came 
into  existence  years  before  the  colonists  began  to  realize  their  unity 
as  Americans  and  to  be  conscious  of  their  affection  for  a  common 
country. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  fourth  American  college,  the  college 
at  Princeton,  was  born  gave  to  it  in  important  respects  a  different 
character.  It  was  not  the  college  of  an  established  church.  It  was  not 
the  college  of  a  single  colony.  It  was  not  the  college  of  a  people  sprung 
from  a  single  natioimlity.  It  sprang  out  of  the  life  of  a  voluntary  relig- 
ious communion  which  had  sj)read  itself  over  several  colonies,  and  which 
united  a  large  portion  of  their  people  in  common  aims  and  activitiesj 


204  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

and  it  sprang  into  being  at  the  time  when  Americans  were  beginning 
to  be  conscious  of  tlieir  unity  as  Americans,  and  when  the  sentiment  of 
patriotism  for  a  common  country  was  beginning  to  energize  in  united 
political  action.  In  this  way,  at  its  birth,  this  fourth  American  college 
had  impressed  upon  it  a  national  and  American  character  which  it  has 
never  lost,  which  has  largely  determined  its  patronage  and  its  policy, 
and  which,  during  the  war  of  independence  and  the  period  of  constitu- 
tional construction  following  the  war,  enabled  it  to  render  great  and 
special  services  to  the  United  States. 

The  middle  colonies,  unlike  New  England,  were  settled  by  j)eoi)les 
holding  differing  creeds  and  sprung  from  several  nationalities.  When 
East  and  West  Jersey  were  united  in  1702,  the  province  of  New  Jersey 
formed  by  the  uniou  contained  15,000  souls.  This  jiopulation  was  made 
up  mainly  of  English  Friends,  of  New  England  Puritans,  and  of  Presby- 
terians from  Scotland  and  Ireland.  The  settlers  increased  rapidly,  so 
that  when,  in  1738,  the  province  sought  an  administration  distinct  from 
thatof  New  York,  it  contained  not  less  than  40,000  people.  The  conquest 
of  New  York  by  the  British  had  introduced  into  that  city  and  the  colony 
to  which  it  belonged  a  mixed  population.  The  province  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, organized  by  the  liberal  constitution  called  "The  holy  experi- 
ment," had  opened  its  vast  territory  to  English  Friends,  Germans  of  the 
Eeformed,  Lutheran,  and  Anabaptist  churches,  and  Presbyterians  from 
the  north  of  Ireland.  The  wave  of  immigration  from  Presbyterian 
Ulster,  on  touching  the  American  shore,  spread  itself  more  widely  than 
any  other.  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  were  to  be  found  in  New  York, 
in  New  Jersey,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  southern  colonies.  They 
easily  allied  themselves  with  each  other  and,  in  the  middle  colonies, 
with  the  Puritan  settlers  from  New  England.  This  alliance  between 
the  Scotch-Irish  and  the  New  England  Puritans  gave  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  from  the  beginning,  what  may  be  called  properly  an 
American  as  distinguished  from  a  New  England  or  Scotch-Irish  char- 
acter. The  presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  organized  as  early  as  1705  or 
1706  by  seven  ministers,  represented  at  least  four  sources  of  the 
colonial  population.  In  1717  a  synod  was  formed  with  the  three  pres- 
byteries of  Long  Island,  Philadelphia,  and  Newcastle.  This  organiza- 
tion was  the  strongest  bond  between  a  large  part  of  the  growing  pojiu- 
lation  in  the  three  adjoining  colonies.  It  united  them  in  a  single 
church.  It  brought  together,  often  and  at  stated  times,  their  religious 
leaders.  The  Puritan  clergymen  of  East  Jersey,  "who  were  graduates  of 
Harvard  or  Yale,  and  the  Scotch-Irish  ministers  of  Pennsylvania,  who 
had  won  their  degrees  at  Glasgow  or  Edinburgh,  met  and  conferred  at 
the  synod,  and,  after  their  return  to  their  parishes,  corresponded  with 
one  another  on  the  welfare  of  their  congregations,  of  the  comnuiuities 
in  which  they  lived,  .and  of  what  they  were  beginning  to  call  their  com- 
mon country.  In  these  conversations  and  letters  the  need  of  ministers 
for  the  rapidly  multiplying  churches  and  the  need  also  of  educated 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  205 

leaders  for  the  rapidly  forming  commuuities  were  often  mentioned,  for 
tlie  reason  that  they  were  deeply  felt.  The  conviction  soon  became 
strong  and  well-nigh  unanimous  that  these  needs  could  only  be  supplied 
by  a  college  for  the  middle  colonies. 

II.  THE  ORIGIX  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

In  presenting  the  origin  of  Princeton  College,  one  can  best  begin  by 
repeating  the  statement  just  made,  namely,  that  during  the  first  lialf 
of  the  eighteenth  century  by  far  the  strongest  bond  uniting  a  large 
proportion  of  the  population  of  southern  New  York,  East  and  West 
Jersey,  and  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  was  the  organized  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  It  constituted  for  these  j^eople  a  far  stronger  social  tie 
than  the  common  sovereignty  of  Great  Britain,  for  this  sovereignty 
was  manifested  in  dii^erent  forms  in  the  different  colonies;  and  except 
in  Pennsylvania,  where  the  proprietary's  spirit  of  toleration  had  fair 
play,  it  neither  deserved  nor  received  the  affection  of  the  colonists.  In 
an  important  sense  the  British  rule  was  that  of  a  foreign  power.  The 
New  Englanders  in  East  Jersey  were  settlers  under  a  government  in 
whose  a<lministration  thej^  had  no  share.  Far  from  controlling,  they 
could  with  difticulty  influence  the  political  action  of  the  governor  and 
his  council.  In  southern  New  York  the  Dutch  were  restive  under  the 
English  domination.  In  New  York  City  and  on  Long  Island  the  rela- 
tions between  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  and  New  England  Puritans 
on  one  hand,  and  the  English  Episcopalians  on  the  other,  were  often 
severel}'  strained;  and  it  was  only  the  latter  to  whom,  on  the  Avhole,  the 
King's  representative  was  at  all  friendly.  In  Pennsylvania  there  were 
English  Friends,  Germans  who  had  been  invited  by  Penn  to  settle  in 
the  eastern  counties  of  the  province,  and  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians. 
The  last-named  immigrants  landed  at  the  port  of  Philadelphia  in  large 
numbers  and  took  up  farms  in  the  rich  valleys  between  the  mountain 
ranges.  From  the  "  Irish  settlement"  at  the  union  of  the  Delaware  and 
the  Lehigh,  where  the  city  of  Easton  now  stands,  to  Harris  Ferry,  on 
the  Susquehanna,  now  the  capital  of  the  State,  there  were  many  Pres- 
byterian communities;  and  from  these,  in  turn,  moved  new  emigra- 
tions to  the  great  valley,  called  the  Cumberland  Valley,  north  of  the 
Potomac,  and,  south  of  that  river,  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 

These  differing  populations  formed  segregated  communities  in  each 
of  the  colonies;  and  the  afi'ection  felt  by  them  for  the  common  govern- 
ment of  Great  Britain  being  weak,  the  middle  colonies  were  not  held 
together  by  the  feeling  of  a  common  national  life.  But  a  religious 
union,  embracing  a  considerable  number  of  settlers  in  each  of  the  prov- 
inces, was  rapidly  growing;  and  this  religious  union  was  to  exert  an 
important  and  continually  increasing  influence  both  in  unifying  the  colo- 
nies and  in  making  America,  and  not  a  country  across  the  sea,  the  object 
of  thedeepest  patriotic  aflection.  This  religious  union  was  the  Pres- 
terian  Church.  The  Presbyterians  of  the  middle  colonies  and  of  Mary- 
land and  Vn-ginia  had  secured  a  visible  unity  when,  in  1705  or  1706, 


206  HISTOKY    OF    EDUCATION    IK    NEW    JERSEY. 

their  pastors  and.  churches  were  organized  as  a  i)resbytery.  TouchiDg 
the  cliaracter  of  this  organization  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  debate. 
But  whether  formed  on  the  model  of  the  English presbyterial  association ' 
or  on  that  of  the  more  highly  specialized  Scotch  presbytery,  the  pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  popularly  called,  furnished  a  means  of 
association  and  of  interchange  of  ideas  among  the  English-speaking 
clergymen  who  were  scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Cape 
Charles  to  Montauk  Point.  Into  this  new  ecclesiastical  organization 
soon  came  the  New  England  congregations  of  East  Jersey.  By  1720 
the  Presbyterian  Church  was  composed  of  German,  Dutch,  Scotch -Irish, 
and  New  England  elements. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  population,  the  need  of  new  churches,  and 
the  opportunities  offered  to  organize  them  impressed  on  the  Presbyte- 
rian ministers  of  that  day  the  need  of  an  increase  in  their  own  ranks. 
Others  might  be  depended  upon  to  organize  the  niaterial  elements  of 
civilization  in  the  new  communities;  but,  just  as  it  was  at  a!i  earlier 
date  in  New  England,  the  duty  of  providing  religious  teachers  for  the 
l^eople  was  largely  left  to  the  ministers  already  at  work.  Francis 
Makemie,  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  to  come  from  Ireland  to 
America,  gave  expression  to  his  anxiety  on  this  subject  in  letters  writ- 
ten to  Increase  Mather,  of  Boston,  and  to  correspondents  in  Ireland 
and  London.  In  response  to  calls  from  the  settlers  some  ministers 
came  from  New  England  and  others  from  Ireland,  but  the  supply  was 
far  from  being  equal  to  the  demand.  As  the  churches  multiplied,  the 
original  presbytery  was  divided  into  several  presbyteries,  and  these 
were  organized  as  a  synod.  And  the  members  of  the  synod,  becoming 
more  distinctly  conscious  of  their  mission  to  their  common  country, 
began  to  agitate  the  (piestion  of  their  independence,  in  respect  to 
ministerial  education,  of  both  Great  Britain  and  New  England. 

This  agitation  did  not  terminate  in  itself.  A  few  ministers,  unwilling 
to  wait  for  ecclesiastical  action,  opened  private  schools,  in  which  they 
taught  the  liberal  arts;  and  to  the  students  thus  prepared,  who  desired 
to  become  readers  in  divinity,  they  offered  themselves  as  preceptors. 
Precisely  these  steps  in  behalf  of  liberal  education  were  taken  by  the 
two  Presbyterian  ministers  of  New  Jersey  who  afterwards  became  the 
first  two  presidents  of  Princeton,  Jonathan  Dickinson  of  Elizabethtown, 
and  Aaron  Burr,  of  Newark.  Still  another  Presbyterian  minister,  Wil- 
liam Tennent,  opened  a  private  school  destined  to  become  far  more 
influential  than  the  school  of  either  Dickinson  or  Burr.  This  was  the 
Log  College  at  the  Forks  of  the  Neshaminy. 

William  Tennent  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1673.  We  owe  to  the  inves- 
tigations of  Dr.  Briggsour  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  he  was  graduated 
at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  July  11, 1G95.-  He  was  admitted  to  dea- 
con's orders  in  the  church  of  Ireland  by  the  bishop  of  Down  in  1704, 
and  two  years  later  was  ordained  a  priest.     Though  an  Episcopalian, 


Briggs's  Americau  Presbyteriauism,  p.  139.  -  Ibid.,  p.  186. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  207 

he  was  related  by  blood  to  Ulster  Presbyterians,  and  lie  married  the 
daughter  of  Gilbert  Kennedy,  the  Presbyterian  pastor  of  Dundonald. 
His  father-in-law  had  suffered  during'  one  of  the  persecutions  of  the 
noncomformists,  and  the  story  of  his  hardships  may  be  responsible  for 
Tennent's  renunciation  of  the  church  of  Ireland.  At  all  events,  "after 
having  been  in  orders  a  number  of  years  he  became  scrupulous  of  con- 
forming to  the  terms  imposed  on  the  clergy  of  the  establishment,  and 
was  deprived  of  his  living,  and  there  being  no  satisfactory  prospect  of 
usefulness  at  home,  he  came  to  America." '  He  landed  at  Philadelphia 
with  his  four  sons  in  1710.  Two  years  later  he  applied  for  admission  to 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  The  committee  to  whom  his  application 
was  referred  were  satisfied  with  his  credentials,  with  the  testimony 
concerning  him  of  some  of  the  brethren  connected  with  the  synod,  and 
with  the  material  reasons  he  oft'ered  for  "his  dissenting  from  the  estab- 
lished church  in  Ireland."  These  reasons  were  recorded  in  the  synod's 
minutes,  ad  futuram  rei  memoriam,  he  was  voted  a  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  "the  moderator  gave  him  a  serious  exhorta- 
tion to  continue  steadfast  in  his  holy  profession."  After  laboring  at 
East  Chester  and  Bedford  in  New  York,  he  removed  in  1721  to  Penn- 
sylvania, and  took  charge  of  two  congregations,  Ben  Salem  and  Smith- 
field,  in  the  county  of  Bucks.  Five  years  later  he  accepted  a  call  to  a 
congregation  in  the  same  county  at  a  point  afterwards  called  the  Forks 
of  the  Neshaminy.  Whether  a  church  had  been  organized  before  his 
arrival  can  not  now  be  positively  determined.  A  house  of  worship  was 
built  about  1727.  Here  he  lived  for  twenty  years,  during  sixteen  of 
which  he  was  actively  engaged  as  the  pastor  of  the  church.  His  per- 
sonality is  not  well  enough  known  to  enable  one  to  draw  his  portrait 
even  in  outline.  Two  things  concerning  him,  however,  are  well  known, 
his  religious  and  missionary  zeal  and  his  exceptional  attainments  in 
classical  learning.  "While  an  orthodox  creed  and  a  decent  external 
conduct,"  writes  Archibald  Alexander,  "  were  the  only  points  upon 
which  inquiry  was  made  when  persons  were  admitted  to  the  communion 
of  the  church  and  while  it  was  very  much  a  matter  of  course  for  all 
who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  to  be  received  into  full  communion  at 
the  proper  age,"-  this  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Teunent.  The  evangelical 
spirit  which  burned  in  the  members  of  the  Holy  Club  at  Oxford  indamed 
the  pastor  of  isTeshaminy.  He  desired  as  communicants  only  the  sub- 
jects of  a  conscious  supernatural  experience.  When  Whitefield  first 
visited  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Tennent  called  upon  him  at  once  and  they  soon 
became  intimate  friends.  He  admired  Whitefield's  oratory,  and  was  in 
full  sympathy  with  his  methods  as  a  revivalist.  Whitefield  cordially 
reciprocated  Tennent's  friendship.  He  found  no  one  in  the  colonies  in 
whose  companionship  he  was  more  strengthened  and  comforted.  He 
spent  many  days  at  the  Forks  of  the  Neshaminy,  and  it  is  to  his  journal 
that  we  are  indebted  for  the  best  description  of  the  log  college. 


'  Webster,  Hist.  Pres.  Cliurcb,  p.  365.  '^  Log:  College,  p.  23. 


208  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NKW    JERSEY. 

William  Teuueiit's  deep  sense  of  the  value  of  a  liberal  etlucatior 
his  desire  to  extend  its  benefits  to  bis  four  suns,  his  determination  t- 
relieve,  so  far  as  he  might  be  able,  the  destitution  of  ministers  in  the 
church  with  which  he  was  connected,  and  his  ambition  to  propagate 
his  own  views  of  preaching  and  of  the  religious  life,  led  him,  soon  afte 
his  settlement  at  Neshaminy,  to  open  a  school  of  liberal  learning  an« 
of  divinity.     His  cousin,  James  Logan,  secretary  of  the  province  o. 
Pennsylvania,  gave  him  for  this  purpose  50  acres  on  Xeshamiuy  Creek 
There  he  raised  a  log  building  as  a  study  for  his  pupils.     It  was  as 
humble  as  the  cabin  of  reeds  and  stubble  which  Abelard  built  for  him 
self  at  N'ogent,  and  which  was  made  famous  by  the  flocking  of  students 
from  Paris  to  hear  the  words  of  the  master.     "The  place  where  th^ 
young  men  study  now,"  writes  George  Whitefleld  in  his  journal, 

is  iu  confcempt  called  tho  college.  It  is  a  log  house,  about  20  feet  long,  aud  near  as 
many  broad;  and  to  me  it  resembled  the  schools  of  the  old  prophets.  For  that  tlieii 
habitations  were  mean,  and  that  they  sought  not  great  things  for  themselves,  if 
jilain  f?om  that  passage  of  Scripture  Avherein  we  are  told  that,  at  the  feast  of  thi 
sons  of  the  prophets,  one  f  them  put  on  the  pot,  whilst  the  others  went  to  fetch 
some  herbs  out  of  the  fie  From  this  despised  place  seven  or  eight  ministers  of 

Jesus  have  lately  been  s  t  forth,  more  are  almost  ready  to  be  sent,  and  a  founda- 
tion is  now  being  laid  for    -le  instruction  of  many  others. 

The  annals  of  the  log  college  are  "the  short  and  simple  annals  of  the 
poor.''  Its  life  was  brief,  and  of  those  who  studied  there  we  possess 
no  complete  list.  Most  of  the  ministers  of  Pennsylvania,  while  they 
probably  regarded  it  with  fear,  spoke  of  it  with  contempt.  When 
Tennent  died  no  one  continued  his  work.  The  building  has  long  since 
decayed  or  been  destroyed,  and  its  site  within  the  50  acres  is  not 
clearly  known.  But  the  work  done  by  the  log  college  was  a  great 
work.  Tennent  convinced  the  Presbyterians  of  the  middle  colonies 
that  they  need  not  and  ought  not  to  wait  upon  Great  Britain  and  New 
England  for  an  educated  ministry;  and  through  his  pupils  and  the 
pupils  of  his  pupils  he  did  more  than  any  other  man  of  his  day  to 
destroy  customs  which  were  as  bonds  to  the  church,  and  to  teach  his 
brethren  that  evangelical  feeling  and  missionary  zeal  were  necessary 
to  fulfill  tlie  mission  of  his  communion  in  the  growing  colonies.  "To 
William  Tennent  above  all  others  is  owing  the  prosperity  and  enlarge- 
ment of  tho  Presbyterian  Church.'" 

From  this  school  were  graduated  the  four  sons  of  the  elder  Tennent, 
and  not  a  few  others  who  became  eminent  in  the  church;  some  of  them 
in  connection  with  the  early  life  of  Princeton  College,  and,  l)efore  that 
college  was  founded,  as  founders  of  institutions  like  the  one  from  which 
they  came.  One  of  these  was  Samuel  Blair,  who  established  a  classi- 
cal school  at  Fagg's  Manor,  or  New  Londonderry,  where  John  liodgers, 
afterwards  the  pastor  of  the  Brick  Church  in  New  York  City,  Samuel 
Davies,  Princeton's  fourth  president,  and  William  Maclay,  United 
States  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  were  educated.     Indeed,  it  may  be 

'  Webster,  Hist.  Pres.  church. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  209 

'-said  that  by  nothing-  is  the  high  character  of  the  log*  college  education 
^"'more  satisfactorily  evidenced  than  by  the  attainments  and  efficiency  of 
^  Samuel  Blair  and  his  brother  John,  upon  both  of  whom  Tennent  had 
impressed  his  religious  views  and  his  zeal  for  the  higher  learning,    ^o 
less  distinguished  than  the  Blairs  was  Samuel  Finley,  who  succeeded 
'"  Davies  as  president  of  Princeton  College.     That  he  was  one  of  Ten- 
^  nent's  students  is  not  certain,  but  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  prol)able. 
•  Tennent's  school  was  in  existence  when  Finley  came  from  Ireland  to 
Philadelphia  to  continue  his  studies.     There  was  no  other  school  near 
at  hand  at  which  students  for  the  ministry  were  educated.     That  his 
name  does  not  appear  in  any  list  of  Tennent's  jjupils  is  not  proof  that 
^  he  did  not  attend  the  school,  for  no  list  pretending  to  be  complete  is  in 
existence.     He  united  with  Tennent's  i)resbytery  and  was  licensed  by 
'  it.    When  he  became  a  pastor,  he  opened  a  school  like  the  log  college. 
"  And  during  all  his  life  he  supported  the  distinctive  views  which  were 
J  associated  with  Tennent's  name.     What  Samuel  Blair  did  at  Fagg's 
Manor  in  Pennsylvania,  Samuel  Finley  did  at  Nottingham  in  Mary- 
land.    He  founded  a  seminary  for  classical  study  and  for  the  training 
of  ministers.     How  important  its  career  was  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
"at  one  time  there  was  a  cluster  of  young  men  at  the  school  who  all 
were  afterwards  distinguished  and  some  of  them  among  the  very  first 
men  in  the  country.     Governor  Martin,  of  !North  Carolina;  Dr.  Benja- 
min Bush,  of  Philadelphia,  and  his  brother.  Judge  Jacob  Bush,  Eben- 
ezer  Hazard,  esq.,  of  Philadelphia;  the  liev.  James  Waddel,  I).  D.,  of 
Virginia;   the  Eev.  Dr.  McWhorter,  of  Newark;   Col.  John  Bayard, 
speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives;  Governor  Henry,  of  Mary- 
land, and  the  Eev.  William  M.  Tennent,  of  Abington,  Pa."^    Less  suc- 
cessful because  of  the  temper  of  the  principal  was  the  school  of  another 
pupil,  John  Eoan,  of  Derry. 

The  ministers  educated  in  these  schools  soon  showed  themselves 
equal  to  positions  in  the  colonies  usually  occupied  by  graduates  of  the 
Scottish  universities  or  the  New  England  colleges.  And  it  was  their 
success  which  led  the  synod  to  take  action  in  1739  looking  to  the 
establishment  of  a  college  for  the  whole  church.  In  that  year  an  over- 
ture for  erecting  a  seminary  of  learning  was  presented  to  the  synod. 

The  synod  unanimously  approved  the  desigu  of  it,  and  in  order  to  accomplish  it 
did  nominate  Messrs.  Pemberton,  Dickinson,  Cross,  and  Anderson,  two  of  ^vhich,  if 
they  can  he  prevailed  upon,  to  he  sent  to  Europe  to  prosecute  this  affair  with  proper 
directions.  And  in  order  to  do  this  it  is  appointed  that  the  committee  of  the  synod, 
with  correspondents  from  every  presbytery,  meet  in  Philadelphia  the  third  Wednes- 
day of  August  next.  And  if  it  be  found  necessary  that  Mr.  Pemlterton  should  go  to 
Boston  pursuant  to  this  desigu,  it  is  ordered  that  the  iiresbytery  of  New  York  supi)ly 
his  pulpit  during  his  absence.- 

Two  of  the  committee,  Messrs.  Pemberton  and  Dickinson,  were 
natives  of  New  England;  Pemberton  was  graduated  at  Harvard  and 

'  Log  College,  pp.  305,  306.  -Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

20GS7— No.  23 14 


210  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

Dickinson  at  Yale.  Dr.  Audersou  was  from  Scotland  and  Mr.  Cross 
was  from  Ireland.  The  committee  at  once  entered  npon  its  duties,  but 
the  period  did  not  favor  the  prosecution  of  tlie  sclieme.  "While  the 
committee  concluded  upon  calling  the  whole  synod  together  for  the 
purpose  of  prosecuting  the  overture  respecting  a  seminary  of  learning, 
yet  the  ^var  breaking  out  between  England  and  Spain,  the  calling  of 
the  synod  Avas  omitted  and  the  whole  afl'air  laid  aside  for  that  time."' 
This  Mas  the  last  legislative  action  taken  upon  the  subject  by  the 
united  church.  Had  the  synod  founded  a  college,  it  is  not  probable 
that  J^rinceton  would  have  been  selected  as  its  site;  and  had  Princeton 
been  selected,  the  institution,  b}'  its  official  relation  to  the  church, 
would  have  had  a  character  and  career  very  diU'erent  from  those  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey. 

But  a  conflict  now  began  within  the  synod  which  led  to  its  division 
in  1742.  The  conflict  and  the  resulting  division  were  due  to  the  activ- 
ity of  two  parties  holding  opposing  opinions  as  to  the  value  of  vivid 
religious  experiences  and  of  j)reaching  designed  immediately  to  call 
fortli  religious  confession,  and  as  to  the  learning  requisite  for  admission 
to  the  ministry.  On  the  one  hand  w;  is  the  party  of  the  log  college.  A 
number  of  its  graduates  and  friends  iiad  been  erected  into  the  presby- 
tery of  New  Brunswick.  This  presbytery  had  licensed  John  Rowland, 
a  student  of  the  log  college,  and  had  intruded  him  within  the  bounds 
of  the  presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  violation  of  a  rule  of  the  synod, 
for  the  synod  had  taken  action  that  no  candidate  for  the  ministry  liav- 
ing  only  a  private  education  should  be  licensed  by  any  presbytery 
until  such  candidate's  learning  had  been  x)assed  upon  by  a  committee 
appointed  for  that  i)urpose.  The  synod  adopted  a  resolution  which 
characterized  the  iiresbytery's  conduct  as  disorderly,  and  admonished 
tlie  presbytery  to  avoid  "such  divisive  courses''  in  the  future.  More- 
over, the  synod  refused  to  recognize  Rowland  as  a  minister,  and 
ordered  him  to  submit  to  the  examinations  for  those  who  had  only  a 
private  education.  The  members  of  the  presbytery  of  New  Brunswick 
were  intensely  indignant.  They  asserted  that  the  synod's  action 
reflected  seriously  upon  the  character  of  the  training  received  at  the 
log  college;  that  it  showed  the  synod  to  be  absolutely  blind  to  the 
religious  needs  of  the  growing  colonies;  that  it  was  an  undeserved 
rebuke  administered  to  the  man  who,  more  intelligently  and  faithfully 
than  any  other  minister  of  the  church,  had  labored  and  sacrificed  in 
the  interest  of  classical  and  theological  education,  and  that  it  had  its 
origin  in  the  synod's  willful  opposition  to  vital  religion.  The  other 
party,  to  which  a  majority  of  the  synod  belonged,  was  recruited  largely 
from  the  Scotch-Irish  clergy  of  Pennsylvania.  Between  these  two 
parties  stood  the  jiresbytery  of  New  York,  led  by  Dickinson  and  Pem- 
bertou.  What  the  members  of  New  York  presbytery  could  do  in  the 
way  of  pacification  they  did.     But  the  conflict  from  its  beginning  was 

1  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Minutes,  1740. 


PEINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  211 

too  bitter  to  be  composed,  and  it  was  made  more  bitter  by  the  visit  to 
America  of  George  Whitelield  and  the  participation  of  the  log  college 
and  New  Brunswick  men  in  Wliitefield's  revival  measures.  A  division 
of  the  synod  was  inevitable.  It  took  place  in  1742.  The  presbytery  of 
New  York,  though  separating  in  that  year  from  the  synod  of  Philadel- 
phia, did  not  at  once  unite  with  the  i»resbytery  of  New  Brunswick. 
But  negotiations  for  such  a  union  were  soon  begun.  In  1745  the  union 
was  efiected,  and  the  synod  of  New  York,  formed  by  the  union  of  the 
presbyteries  of  New  York,  New  Brunswick,  and  Newcastle,  the  latter 
made  up  wholly  of  Log  College  men,  was  constituted. 

This  synod  of  New  York,  it  will  be  observed,  was  a  union  of  the  New 
England  clergymen  and  of  those  who  were  immediately  connected  with 
the  college  on  the  Nesliaminy  or  who  symi)athized  with  the  aims  and 
measures  of  its  lounder.  During  tbe  three  years  intervening  between 
the  division  of  the  church  and  the  formation  of  the  new  synod  of  New 
York,  many  conferences  weie  held  and  letters  written  on  the  subject  of 
a  college.  Owing  to  this  schism  it  was  impossible  for  those  now  con- 
nected with  the  synod  of  New  York  to  take  i);ut  in  founding  that 
"seminary  of  learning''  which  in  1731)  the  undivided  synod  had  deter- 
mined to  organize.  The  adoption  of  the  log  college  as  the  college  of 
the  synod  was  not  favorably  regarded  for  several  reasons.  It  was  lOO 
far  from  New  York;  it  was  within  the  limits  of  the  other  synod;  its 
plan  was  too  narrow;  and,  besides,  the  elder  Tennent  died  the  very 
year  of  the  organization  of  the  New  York  synod.  The  work  of  the 
log  college  was  over.  Moreover,  large-minded  leaders  like  Dickinson 
and  Burr  wanted  a  college  organized  on  a  plan  far  larger  than  that  of 
the  Neshaminy  school.  Nor  were  they  at  all  disposed  to  wait  for 
syuodical  action.  The  character  of  the  clerical  promoters  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  their  training,  and  their  actual  behavior  make  it 
not  only  credible,  but  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that  if  a  college 
subject  to  the  supervision  of  a  church  judicatory  was  ever  before  their 
minds,  it  was  thought  of  only  to  be  rejected.  To  quote  the  words  of 
Dr.  Maclean,  the  historian  of  the  college,  they  "most  probably  neither 
sought  nor  desired  the  assistance  of  the  synod." 

Besides  this  underlying  indisposition  to  invoke  ecclesiastical  action, 
there  were  si)ecial  reasons  at  this  time  for  not  allowing  the  subject  to 
be  brought  before  the  synod  for  discussion.  There  were  a  few  in  the 
synod  of  New  York  who,  hoi)ing  for  a  reunion  of  the  divided  church, 
might  propose  cooperation  with  the  synod  of  Philadelphia  in  the  sup- 
port ot  the  college  which  the  latter  synod  was  expecting  to  open  at 
New  London,  in  Pennsylvania.  Gilbert  Tenneut's  opposition  to  any 
large  plan  had  to  be  anticipated,  for  he  had  always  expressed  a  prefer- 
ence tor  private  and  local  schools.  And  Samuel  Blair,  who  was  con- 
ducting successfully  an  academy  at  Faggs  Manor,  could  scarcely  be 
expected  to  favor  any  scheme  which  would  end  the  work  to  which  he 
had  given  his  life.    Considerations  like  these  determined  the  clerical 


212  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

promoters  to  independent  but  associated  action.  Tliree  of  them,  Jona- 
than Dickinson,  Aaron  Burr,  and  John  Piersou,  were  graduates  of  Yale; 
the  fourth,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  was  graduated  at  Harvard.  The 
men  from  Yale  had  seen  in  their  own  alma  mater  what  independent 
action  could  effect;  and  before  the  minds  of  the  four  ministers  and  the 
three  laymen  who  acted  with  them  arose  an  ideal  very  different  from 
that  which  Tennent  had  made  actual  in  the  Log  College.  Certainly, 
with  whatever  design  they  began  the  project,  when,  after  conference 
and  discussion,  they  proceeded  to  final  action,  they  did  a  far  larger 
thing  than  to  organize  either  a  synodical  college  or  one  chiefly  for  the 
education  of  candidates  for  the  ministry.  That  this  function  was  in 
their  apprehension  important  and  even  eminent  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
But  this  was  only  one  of  several  functions  of  the  college  of  the  higher 
learning  for  the  middle  colonies.  The  benefits  to  be  conferred  by  it  on 
society  at  large,  in  the  rising  communities  of  the  colonies,  and  espe- 
cially on  the  other  liberal  professions,  were  quite  as  distinctly  before 
the  minds  of  the  promoters  and  first  trustees  of  Princeton  College  as 
were  its  relations  to  clerical  training.  This  is  made  clear  both  by  the 
provisions  of  the  two  charters  and  by  the  social  and  political  standing 
of  the  trustees  these  charters  name. 

III.    THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    COLLEGE — THE    TWO    CHARTERS. 

The  two  political  divisions  of  New  Jersey,  the  East  and  the  West, 
were  united  in  1702.  Up  to  1738  the  governor  of  New  York  repre- 
sented the  sovereign  in  the  province  of  the  Jerseys  also.  In  that  year 
New  Jersey  M^as  granted  a  separate  executive,  and  Lewis  Morris  was 
appointed  governor.  He  continued  in  office  until  his  death  in  1746. 
On  the  death  of  Governor  Morris,  John  Hamilton,  president  of  the 
council,  became  the  acting  governor  by  operation  of  law;  and  it  was 
from  Acting  Governor  Hamilton,  on  the  22d  of  October,  1740,  that  the 
charter  with  which  the  college  began  its  life  was  granted.  The  year 
before,  the  ministers  whose  names  have  been  mentioned  and  their  asso- 
ciates, William  Smith,  William  Peartree  Smith,  and  Peter  Van  Brugh 
Livingston,  had  been  refused  a  charter  by  Governor  Morris.  The 
reasons  for  his  refusal  can  be  inferred  from  his  views  and  his  previous 
conduct.  Apart  from  the  doubt  that  he  may  have  felt  as  to  his  right 
to  bestow  it  before  receiving  permission  from  the  home  government,  he 
believed  that  he  would  be  doing  an  illegal  or  at  least  an  impolitic  act 
if  Le  granted  the  rights  of  a  corporation  for  educational  and  religious 
purposes  to  ministers  and  laymen  not  in  communion  with  the  Church 
of  England.  He  had  already  refused  a  cliarter  to  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  New  York,  for  the  reason  tliat  there  was  no  precedent 
for  conferring  that  privilege  on  a  company  of  "dissenters." 

But  the  death  of  Governor  Morris  gave  to  the  promoters  of  the  col- 
lege new  hope;  and  they  presented  the  same  petition  to  Acting  Governor 
Hamilton.    He  was  the  son  of  Andrew  Hamilton,  who  had  been  governor 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  213 

of  East  and  West  Jersey  for  a  period  of  teu  years.  The  fact  that  Andrew 
Hamilton  was  a  native  of  iScotland  led  him  to  look  with  favor,  cer- 
tainly with  less  opposition  than  that  displayed  by  either  Lord  Cornbnry 
or  Governor  Morris'  oil  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  colonies.  His  son  John,  himself  perhaps  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
shared  these  views  and  feelings.  At  all  events,  he  granted  the  peti- 
tion and  signed  the  charter.  This  was  the  first  college  charter  con- 
ferred in  America  by  the  independent  action  of  a  provincial  governor. 
The  charter  of  Harvard  was  the  act  of  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts; 
that  of  Yale  the  act  of  the  legislature  of  Connecticut;  that  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  was  granted  immediately  by  those  sovereigns.  The 
precedent  made  by  Acting  Governor  Hamilton  was  followed  by  other 
governors,  and  its  propriety  was  never  afterwards  officially  questioned. 
Indeed,  it  was  never  publicly  questioned  except  in  a  newspaper  contro- 
versy, in  which  only  private  and  irresponsible  opinions  were  expressed 
by  writers  who  did  not  even  sign  their  names. 

The  name  of  John  Hamilton,  therefore,  should  be  given  a  conspicu- 
ous place  in  any  list  of  the  founders  of  Princeton  University.  He 
granted  the  first  charter;  he  granted  it  against  the  precedent  made  by 
the  governor  whom  he  succeeded  in  the  executive  chair;  and  he  granted 
it  with  alacrity,  certainly  without  vexatious  delay.  What  is  more 
remarkable,  at  a  time  wlien  Episcopalian  governors  were  ill-disposed 
to  grant  to  Presbyterians  ecclesiastical  or  educational  franchises,  he — 
an  Episcopalian — gave  this  charter  to  a  board  of  trust  composed  wholly 
of  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Though  the  sou  of  a  gov- 
ernor, and  acting  as  a  royal  governor,  he  made  no  demand  that  the 
government  be  given  a  substantive  part  in  its  administration;  and 
though  granting  the  franchise  as  governor  of  a  single  province,  he 
gave  it  to  a  board  of  trustees  in  which  four  provinces  were  represented. 
For  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  his  conduct  evinces  exceptional  large- 
mindedness.  It  appears  to  have  proceeded  from  the  conviction  that  a 
company  of  reputable  gentlemen,  of  whatever  Christian  communion, 
and  however  widely  their  homes  might  be  separated,  who  were  willing 
to  give  their  time,  money,  and  labor  to  the  founding  and  maintenance 
of  a  college  of  liberal  learning  for  men  of  all  classes  of  belief,  must  be 
worthy  of  the  confidence  and  protection  of  the  sovereign  political 
power.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  projectors  of  the  college 
impressed  upon  it  an  unsectarian  character  by  declining  to  seek  the  aid 

^  Lord  Cornbury  and  Governor  Morris,  though  they  were  both  opposed  to  noncon- 
formists, were  alike  in  nothing  else.  The  latter  on  more  than  one  occasion  opposed 
vigoronsly  the  former's  tyranny.  Governor  Morris  was  on  the  whole  an  admirable 
governor,  and  as  to  his  opposition  to  the  charter,  Dr.  Maclean  makes  tlie  following 
remark:  "In  this  matter  the  frieuds  of  the  Church  [of  England]  were  in  all  proba- 
bility no  more  unreasonable  than  the  Dissenters  themselves  would  have  been  had  their 
respective  conditions  been  reversed.  It  was  reserved  for  those  not  connected  with 
established  churches  to  be  liberal  minded  and  regardful  of  the  rights  of  others." 
(History  of  the  College,  A'ol.  I,  p.  43.) 


214  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

or  to  permit  the  oversight  of  the  Presbyterian  synod;  and  that  never- 
theless its  control  by  Presbyterians  representing  four  colonies  made  it 
of  necessity  an  intercolonial  institution.  It  is  but  just  to  the  memory 
of  John  Hamilton  to  add,  that  legal  effect  was  first  given  both  to  this 
religiously  liberal  proposal  and  to  this  national  outlook  by  the  signa- 
ture of  an  acting  royal  governor  wlio  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

Unfortunately,  the  first  charter  was  not  recorded;  and  it  is  on  this 
account  imi)Ossible  to  compare  its  precise  language  with  that  of  the 
second.  But  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  August  13,  1747,  published 
an  advertisement  of  the  college,  which  contains  the  first  charter  s  sub- 
stance. In  this  advertisement  it  is  stated  that  the  charter  named 
seven  trustees,  the  four  clerical  founders,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Ebe- 
nezer  Pemberton,  John  Pierson,  and  Aaron  Burr,  and  the  three  lay 
founders,  William  Smith,  Peter  Van  Bragh  Livingston,  and  William 
Peartree  Smith.  To  these  original  trustees  was  given  i'ull  power  to 
choose  five  others,  who  should  exercise  equal  power  and  authority  with 
themselves.  The  five  chosen  were  the  Kev.  liichard  Treat  and  four  cleri- 
cal representatives  of  the  Log  College  interest:  Samuel  Blair,  Gilbert 
Tennent,  William  Tennent,  jr.,  and  Samuel  Fiuley.  The  charter  con- 
stitutes the  trustees  a  body  corporate,  with  full  power  to  act  as  such, 
and  to  convey  their  power  to  the  successors  whom  they  might  elect. 
In  the  exercise  of  this  power,  however,  no  acts  or  ordinances  for  the 
government  of  the  college  could  be  passed  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
Great  Britain,  or  of  the  province  of  iS^ew  Jersey;  and  provision  is  dis- 
tinctly made  that  no  person  shall  be  debarred  of  any  of  the  privileges 
of  the  college  on  account  of  any  speculative  principles  of  religion; 
but  "those  of  every  religious  profession  have  ei^ual  privilege  and 
advantage  of  education  in  said  college."  The  charter  gives  to  the 
trustees  and  their  successors  the  power  to  give  any  such  degrees  as 
are  given  in  any  of  the  universities  or  colleges  in  the  realm  of  Great 
Britain.' 

Whether  in  their  respective  preambles  there  was  any  difference 
between  the  first  and  second  charters,  no  one  knows,  and  it  were  idle 
to  conjecture.  So  tar  as  appears,  the  scope  of  the  institution,  its  edu- 
cational design,  the  methods  appointed  for  fulfilling  this  design,  the 
powers  of  the  governing  board,  the  degrees  to  be  granted,  and  the 
entire  framework  of  a  college  or  university,  as  set  forth  in  the  second 
charter,  Avere  set  forth  in  the  first,  with  the  same  jirecision,  in  the  same 
order,  and  in  the  same  general  language.  The  second  charter  was 
sought  by  tlie  original  trustees  or  suggested  by  the  governor  and 
agreed  on  by  both,  in  order  to  increase  the  number  of  trustees,  to  intro- 

'  Reprinted  in  the  Princeton  CoUej^e  Bnlletin,  Febinary,  1891.  Mr.  William  Nel- 
son, to  whose  stndie.s  of  the  early  history  of  the  province  of  New  Jersej'  both  the 
State  and  university  are  indebted,  brought  it  to  the  notice  of  the  faculty;  but  for 
him  we  should  not  now  know  the  names  of  all  the  hrst  trustees. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  215 

(luce  into  the  board  representatives  of  the  provincial  government,  to 
give  to  otlier  religions  comiuunious  a  share  in  the  administration,  to 
secnre  the  favor  of  civilians  in  Philadelphia,  and  to  make  the  lay  trus- 
tees equal  in  number  to  those  who  were  clergymen.  These  statements 
indicate  the  only  changes  that  were  made.  It  was  proposed  to  grapt 
to  four  members  of  the  council  of  New  Jersey  seats  in  the  board 
ex  officio.  The  proposal  was  rejected.  What  would  have  been  the 
effect  of  its  adoption  no  one  can  tell.  It  might  have  seriously  inter- 
fered with  the  development  of  the  college  as  an  intercolonial  or  national 
college  and  reduced  it  to  the  rank  of  a  local  or  provincial  institution. 
But  this  is  not  at  all  certain ;  for  a  similar  provision  in  the  charter  of 
Yale,  as  amended  in  1792,  did  not  prevent  its  growth  into. a  great 
national  university.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  in  whose  minds  the 
changes  in  the  charter  severally  originated.  We  only  know  in  a  gen- 
eral way  of  the  friendly  correspondence  and  conference  between  the 
original  trustees  and  the' governor,  and  of  the  governor's  expressed 
desii^e  to  give  to  the  college  a  new  and  better  charter. 

In  changing  the  constitution  of  a  corporation,  either  the  charter  may 
be  amended  or  a  new  charter  may  be  granted.  Why,  in  the  case  of 
the  college,  the  latter  method  was  adopted  is  not  perfectly  clear.  It 
may  be  that  this  was  regarded  as  the  more  convenient  method,  or  that, 
even  if  not  so  convenient,  it  was  thought  either  safer  or  more  honor- 
able, or  both,  to  hold  a  charter  from  a  royal  governor  than  to  hold  one 
froin  a  president  of  the  council.  Possibly  some  of  the  steps  taken  by 
the  government  in  issuing  the  first  charter  were  irregular,  or  possibly 
some  of  the  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  were  omitted.  Three  facts  are 
significant:  ^o  mention  of  the  charter  of  174G,  so  far  as  can  now  be 
ascertained,  was  made  in  the  council's  Journal.  In  1755  the  first  char- 
ter was  attacked  by  a  writer  in  the  New  York  Gazette,  and  a  reply  by 
a  friend  of  the  college  was  published ;  but  in  this  reply  the  first  char- 
ter, far  from  being  defended,  is  pronounced  "probably  invalid,"  and 
the  tone  of  the  note  is  one  of  felicitation  that  the  legality  of  the  col- 
lege rests  securely  on  the  charter  of  1748.  In  the  same  year  the  trus- 
tees presented  an  address  to  the  governor  who  gave  the  second  charter, 
and  they  welcomed  him,  not  only  as  patron  and  benefactor,  but  as 
founder  also. 

These  facts  justify  and  almost  compel  the  belief  that  the  conviction 
was  general  that  a  cloud  rested  on  the  college's  title  to  its  franchises, 
which  could  be  best  removed  by  an  absolutely  new  charter.  But  they 
do  not  warrant  the  statement  that  the  first  charter  was  impotent  and 
void.  It  was  actually  operative  until  the  new  charter  was  granted; 
and,  had  it  not  been  superseded,  it  would  have  continued  operative 
until,  challenged  in  the  courts  of  the  i^rovince,  a  decision  had  been 
rendered  against  it.  Many  of  the  official  acts  of  governors  and  legis- 
latures, if  tested  in  the  courts,  would  be  held  illegal,  and  some  of  them 
so  illegal  as  to  be  invalid.     But,  never  being  challenged,  they  have 


216  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

been  just  as  potent  as  if  they  had  complied  with  every  constitutional 
demand.  The  first  charter  of  the  college,  in  its  sphere,  had  certainly 
all  the  potency  which  acts  of  the  kind  just  described  have  in  their 
spheres.  3Ioreover,  we  have  not  at  tliis  late  day  knowledge  enough  of 
the  facts  of  the  case  to  assert  with  confidence  what,  if  the  case  had 
been. tried,  the  decision  of  the  court  would  have  been.  And  even  if  it 
could  now  be  satisfactorily  proved  that,  of  the  steps  necessary  to  be 
taken,  enough  were  omitted  to  make  it  certain  that  the  first  charter 
would  have  been  adjudged  illegal,  it  never  was.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  was  granted,  it  was  announced,  the  college  was  advertised  and 
opened  on  its  basis,  and  it  was  called  an  "infant  college,"'  and  one  to 
bo  "adopted,"  by  the  very  governor  who  granted  the  new  charter. 
Let  it  even  be  supposed  that  Acting  Governor  Hamilton  in  granting  the 
first  charter  was  guilty  of  uidawful  usurpation  of  power.  Louis  XVi  II 
regarded  Kapoleon  I  as  a  usurper,  and  Charles  II  so  regarded  Oliver 
Cromwell,  But  neither  the  Bourbon  nor  the  Stuart  king  held  that  the 
franchises  granted  under  the  government  of  his  predecessor  were  for 
that  reason  null  and  void,  (xovernor  Belcher  and  his  council,  for  rea- 
sons not  known  to  us  but  satisfactory  to  themselves,  granted  a  new 
charter  instead  of  amending  the  (dd  one;  but  that  is  no  reason  at  all 
for  taking  a  position  wliich  would  compel  the  removal  of  the  name  of 
Jonathan  Dickinson  from  the  list  of  the  presidents  and  the  name  of 
John  Hamilton  from  the  list  of  the  founders  of  the  college.' 

The  vacancy  in  the  oflice  of  goveriuir  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
in  1747  of  Jonathan  Belcher.  Grovernor  Belcher  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts. His  father,  a  man  of  large  estate,  had  been  a  member  of  the 
provincial  council  of  that  province.  The  son  was  graduated  at  Har- 
vard in  1G99.  Upon  his  graduation  he  visited  Europe  as  a  gentleman 
of  fortune,  and  spent  six  years  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent. 
He  was  received  at  (he  Court  of  Hanover,  where  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Sophia,  tlic  ancestress  of  those  electors  who  became  kings  of 
England.  On  his  return  to  Boston  he  became  a  merchant.  In  1729  he 
was  appointed  the  agent  in  England  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts, 
and  in  1730  governor  of  the  colony,  an  oliice  he  retained  until  1741. 
During  his  administration  he  was  actively  interested  in  Harvard  Col- 
h'ge.     He  took  advantage  of  the  opportunities  his  position  gave  liiui  to 

'  It  is  tine,  as  said  above,  that  a  frieud  of  the  college  expressed,  in  the  New  York 
Gazette,  the  belief  that  the  first  charter  was  "i)robabIy  invalid."  But  it  can  with 
equal  truth  be  said  that  a  devoted  frieud  of  the  collei^e  expressed  the  fear  that  the 
second  charter  might  bo  successfully  attacked  on  legal  -grounds.  This  was  Samuel 
Davies.  So  grave  was  his  fear  "that  they  would  lind  some  Haw  in  the  charter  and 
so  overset  it,"  that  it  controlled  his  conduct  Avheu  in  London  (Maclean's  History  of 
the  College,  Vol.  I,  p.  233).  Mere  private  opinions  never  determined  the  validity  of 
a  charter.  A  charter  actually  operative  can  bo  adjudged  illegal  or  invalid  only  by 
the  court  having  Jnrisdiiition.  The  first  chai'ter  was  operatix'e,  and  the  college 
bog:in  its  life  under  its  protection.  To  postdate  the  beginning  of  the  college  two 
years,  for  the  reason  that  some  private  citizens  thought  or  some  students  still  think 
that  The  first  charter  was  "probably  invalid,"  would  be  uuwarrantaVde. 


PRINCETON   UNIVERSITY.  217 

promote  what  lie  believed  to  be  its  welfare.  He  was  not  only  an  alum- 
nus, but  as  governor  of  the  colony  be  was  a  member  of  the  board  of 
overseers.  His  influence  seems  to  have  been  exerted  to  compose  the 
difficulties  between  the  two  ecclesiastical  parties  which  at  that  i)eriod 
were  struggling  for  the  control  of  the  institution.  He  was  a  man  of 
intellectual  sympathies  and  religious  character,  and  had  been  cultivated 
by  travel.  Such  a  man,  coming  to  Xew  Jersey  as  its  chief  executive, 
would  be  disposed  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  new 
seminary  of  learning.  He  would  easily  be  interested  in  the  project  of 
the  seven  graduates  of  New  England  colleges  who  were  among  its 
sponsors. 

Governor  Belcher,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  New  Jersey,  in  August, 
1747,  began  to  think  and  write  about  the  college.  As  early  as  October 
of  that  year,  having  received  from  President  Dickinson  a  catalogue  of 
the  institution,  he  wrote  to  the  Eev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  then  pastor  in  New 
York,  expressing  the  hope  that  the  hitter  would  come  to  Burlington 
and  "lay  something  before  the  provincial  assembly  of  New  Jersey  for 
the  service  of  our  infant  college."  Especially  interesting  is  the  gov- 
ernor's statement :  "  I  say  our  infant  college,  because  I  have  determined 
to  adopt  it  for  a  child,  and  to  do  everything  in  my  i)ower  to  promote  and 
establish  so  noble  an  undertaking."  Indeed,  he  wrote  no  less  than 
three  letters  about  the  college  on  the  same  day:  That  to  Mr.  Pemberton 
already  quoted;  one  to  Jonathan  Dickinson,  whose  death,  unknown  to 
the  governor,  had  occurred  tlie  day  before,  and  one  to  Mr.  William 
Peartree  Smith,  of  New  York,  in  which  the  phrase  "our  infant  college" 
is  repeated.  A  week  earlier  he  had  written  a  letter  to  his  friend  Mr. 
Walley,  of  Boston,  in  whicli,  speaking  of  the  college,  he  expressed  the 
opinion  that  Princeton  was  the  best  situation  for  it,  and  added;  ^^I 
believe  that  the  trustees  must  have  a  new  and  better  charter,  which  I 
will  give  to  them."  Indeed,  until  the  second  charter  was  granted,  on 
September  13,  1748,  no  one  seems  to  have  shown  a  greater  interest  in 
the  institution  than  the  governor  of  the  ])rovince.  The  details  of  the 
second  charter  were  the  subject  of  correspondence  and  of  frequent  con- 
ferences between  himself  and  the  original  promoters.  One  important 
question  discussed  was  the  persons  to  be  luinied  as  the  board  of  trustees, 
the  board  to  which  the  property  of  the  college  was  to  be  intrusted  and 
wliich  was  to  i)ossess  plenary  power  in  administration.  The  interests 
of  religion  were  cared  for  by  reappointing  the  clerical  trustees  under 
the  first  charter,  except  Jonathan  Dickinson,  who  had  died,  and 
Samuel  Finley,  and  by  adding  four  others.  All  of  the  four  were  mem- 
bers of  the  synod  of  New  York,  except  David  Cowell,  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Trenton.  When  the  division  of  the  church  took  place  Mr. 
Cowell  took  the  side  of  the  synod  of  Philadelphia,  but  he  was  not  a 
violent  partisan.  Indeed,  he  was  always  a  warm  friend  of  Samuel 
Davies,  and  did  much  afterwards  to  induce  Davies  to  accept  the  presi- 
dency of  the  college.  Three  "log  college"  ministers — Gilbert  Tennent, 
William  Tennent,  jr.,  and  Samuel  Blair — who  were  trustees  under  the 


218  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

first,  are  named  in  the  second  charter.     The  new  clerical  trustees  were 
all  active  pastors. 

Governor  Belcher  desired  to  associate  the  institntion  closely  with  the 
State.  For  eleven  years  he  had  been  goveruor  of  the  colonies  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Massachusetts.  He  was  always  disposed  strongly  to 
assert  the  right  of  the  State  to  a  large  place  in  all  great  projects  hav- 
ing in  view  the  welfare  of  the  people.  It  was  this  habit  of  asserting 
his  dignity  and  authority  as  governor  that  first  led  to  unfriendly  rela- 
lations  between  himself  and  the  people  of  Massachusetts  and  finally 
caused  his  dismissal,  as  it  was  the  lavish  expenditure  of  his  ])rivate 
resources  in  the  support  of  the  dignity  of  his  office  during  his  official 
life  in  his  native  province  that  seriously  reduced  his  fortune.  His  cor- 
respondence shows  his  belief  in  the  high  value  of  the  services  wLicii 
as  governor  he  could  render  to  the  new  college,  and  it  was  quite  in 
keeping  with  his  views  and  previous  conduct  to  propose  that  not  only 
the  governor  of  the  province,  but  several  of  his  council,  should  be 
ex  officio  members  of  the  corporation.  The  last  clause  of  this  proposal 
met  with  strenuous  and  successful  opposition.  Whether  the  East  Jer- 
sey and  ISTew  York  trustees  under  the  first  charter  op])osed  it,  it  is  not 
possible  positively  to  say.  Whatever  tliey  may  have  thought  of  the 
gentlemen  who  composed  the  council  as  at  that  time  constituted,  it  was 
probably  no  part  of  their  original  design  to  give  a  place  to  the  official 
element,  and  they  would  no  doubt  have  preferred  to  form  no  other  con- 
nection with  the  State  than  that  which  binds  every  corporation  to  the 
government  which  created  it.  The  strongest  opposition  to  the  proposal 
to  give  to  the  State  any  share  in  the  administration  came  from  the 
trustees  Avho  represented  the  log  college,  and  especially  from  Governor 
Belcher's  intimate  friend  Gilbert  Tennent,  then  the  pastor  of  the  Sec- 
ond Presbyterian  Cliurch  of  Philadelphia.  Even  the  innocent  provision 
that  constituted  the  governor  of  tlie  province  ex  officio  president  of  the 
board  of  trustees  was  introduced  against  the  earnest,  indeed  somewhat 
indignant,  remonstrance  of  Mr.  Tennent.  At  last  a  compromise  was 
made.  The  governor  of  the  j)rovince  was  made  ex  officio  the  president 
of  the  board,  and  four  members  of  the  council  were  named  as  trustees. 
But  the  latter  were  not  named  as  members  of  the  council.  They  were 
appointed  as  eminent  citizens  of  the  province,  and  their  names  appear 
in  the  charter  not  as  councillors  but  as  individuals. 

It  is  to  the  governor's  interest  in  the  college  that  we  must>attribute 
the  appointment  as  incorporators  of  three  eminent  civilians  of  Phila- 
delphia. The  three  laymen  in  the  board  under  the  first  charter  were 
residents  of  New  York.  These  were  retained,  but  Philadelphia  was 
given  an  eipial  number.  They  were  the  Hon.  John  Kinsey,  formerly 
attorney-general  and  at  this  time  chief  justice  of  Pennsylvania;  the 
Hon.  Edward  Shii)pen,  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas,  and  Mr. 
vSamuel  Hazard,  an  eminent  private  citizen,  <'In  the  preparation  of 
the  charter,"  says  J)r.  .Alacleau,  '^  Governor  Belcher  sought  Chief  Justice 
Kinsey's  advice,  and  placed  it  in  his  hands  for  revision  before  submit- 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  219 

ting  it  to  the  attoruey-geueral  of  New  Jersey  for  his  apiDroval.  In 
making  these  appointments  Governor  Belcher  sought  for  the  college 
not  only  the  interest  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  but  the  interest  also 
of  its  largest  religious  communion.  Both  Chief  Justice  Kinsey  and 
Judge  Shippen  were  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends." 

The  charter  which  names  these  trustees  recites,  as  the  occasion  of  its 
grant,  a  petition  presented  by  sundry  of  the  subjects  of  the  King, 
expressing  their  earnest  desire  that  a  college  may  be  erected  in  the 
province  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  benefit  of  the  said  pi^ovince  and  others, 
"  wherein  youth  may  be  instructed  in  the  learned  languages  and  in  the 
liberal  arts  and  sciences,"  and  that  these  petitioners  have  expressed 
their  earnest  desire  that  those  of  every  religious  denomination  may 
have  free  and  equal  liberty  and  advantages  of  education  in  the  said 
college,  any  different  sentiments  in  religion  notwithstanding.  In  the 
name  of  the  King,  therefore,  it  is  granted  that  there  be  a  college  erected 
to  be  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  The 
trustees  are  constituted  a  body  politic,  and  after  the  provision  is  made 
that  the  governor  and  commander  in  chief  of  the  province  of  New 
Jersey,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  a  trustee,  the  original  corporators  are 
named.  The  charter  was  read  in  council  on  the  13th  of  September, 
having  previously  been  examined  by  the  attorney-general,  and  issued 
on  the  next  day,  the  14th  of  September,  1748. 

Including  the  governor,  there  were  23  trustees.  Of  these  12  were 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  all  of  whom  were  liberally  educated.  Six  of 
them  were  graduates  of  Yale,  3  were  graduates  of  Harvard,  and  3 
received  their  training  under  the  elder  Tennent  at  the  Log  College.  Of 
the  lay  trustees,  Jonathan  Belcher  was  graduated  at  Harvard,  and 
William  Smith, William  Peartree  Smith,  and  Peter  Livingston  at  Yale. 
Tlie  four  members  belonging  to  the  council  of  the  province  of  New 
Jersey  were  John  Eeading,  James  Hude,  Andrew  Johnston,  and 
Thomas  Leonard.  Andrew  Johnston  was  elected  treasurer.  Three  lay 
trustees  were  from  New  York  and  three  were  from  Pennsylvania.  Two 
of  the  trustees  belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends  and  one  was  an  Ei^is- 
copalian.  The  governor  was  born  of  Puritan  parents;  in  his  younger 
manhood  he  was  devout  and  active  as  a  Puritan;  later  still  he  was 
thoroughly  in  sym[)athy  with  Whitefield  and  the  Teuuents,  and  in  the 
last  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Elizabethtown.  The  remaining  trustees,  whether  laymen  or  ministers, 
were  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  names  of  two  that 
appear  in  the  first  charter  do  not  appear  in  the  second:  The  Rev.  Jona- 
than Dickinson,  who  had  died,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley.  Why  the 
latter  was  not  reappointed  is  not  known.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  a  clergyman,  who  was  afterwards  elected  president  of  the 
college,  was  at  this  time  persona  non  grata  to  the  governor,  the  council, 
his  former  colleagues,  or  the  new  trustees.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that,  not  being  strong,  already  burdened  by  the  cares  of  both  a  parish 
and  an  academy  in  Maryland,  and  living  at  a  long  distance  from  the 


220  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

college,  be  felt  himself  unable  to  endure  the  fatigues  of  travel  over 
poor  roads  to  the  necessarily  frequent  meetings  of  the  board. 

Few  boards  of  trust,  having  in  view  the  purposes  for  which  they 
were  created,  have  been  more  wisely  organized.  In  their  several 
spheres  its  members  were  all  men  of  standing.  Many  of  them  had 
already  shown  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  some  of  them  were 
eminent.  In  the  persons  of  the  trustees  three  of  the  middle  colonies, 
their  two  chief  cities,  three  religious  communions,  commerce,  the  liberal 
professions,  and  the  royal  government  of  the  province  in  which  the 
college  had  its  home  were  represented,  and  all  who  had  a  share  in  its 
administration  were  united  in  the  earnest  purpose  to  make  it  worthy 
of  its  franchises. 

The  charter  of  1748  is  to-day  the  charter  of  Princeton  University. 
It  has  been  amended  in  but  a  few,  and  these  not  important,  particulars. 
Grateful  for  his  grant  of  the  charter,  the  trustees  in  1775  addressed 
Governor  Belcher  as  not  only  the  patron  and  benefactor  of  the  college, 
but  its  ''founder."  As  has  been  shown,  he  was  deeply  solicitous  for 
its  welfare,  and  as  governor,  citizen,  and  Christian  rendered  to  it  great 
and  conspicaous  services.  But  the  title  "founder"  applied  to  him 
exclusively  is  not  deserved,  and  in  itself  is  not  happy.  It  is  certainly 
unmerited,  if  it  is  to  be  interpreted  as  excluding  either  his  predecessor, 
John  Hamilton,  or  President  Jonathan  Dickinson,  from  sharing  equally 
with  him  the  honor  dne  to  those  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  univer- 
sity. After  all,  to  speak  of  the  "founder"  of  a  university  is  to  employ 
a  metaphor.  And  it  is  not  by  a  figure  taken  from  among  forms  which 
have  no  life,  even  though  it  be  a  noble  and  spacious  building,  that  the 
character  and  career  of  a  university  can  be  best  exhibited.  To  obtain 
an  adequate  symbol  we  must  rise  into  the  realm  of  life.  It  is  scarcely 
figurative  to  say  that  a  university  is  not  a  mechanism,  not  even  an 
artistic  achievement,  but  an  organism.  And  this  is  true  of  Princeton. 
A  living  seed,  whose  high  descent  we  can  trace  through  Yale  and  Har 
vard,  through  the  Log  College  and  Edinburgh,  through  Cambridge, 
Oxford,  and  Paris,  back  to  Alcuin,  and  the  school  of  Egbert  at  York, 
was  planted  here  wisely  and  with  prayer.  We  shall  better  state  the 
facts  and  shall  more  nearly  credit  each  benefactor  with  the  service  he 
rendered  if  we  refuse  to  say:  "These  men  or  this  man  founded  it;" 
and  shall  say  instead: 

Men  planted  it,  men  watered  it,  men  cherislied  and  nonrislied  it,  and  men  threw 
abont  it  the  safeguards  of  the  common  and  the  statute  law.  All  the  while  it  grew 
because  of  the  living  and  energizing  idea  which  informed  it.  For  the  same  reason 
it  yielded  seed  after  its  kind  and  became  a  mother  of  colleges.  And  year  by  year 
its  leaves  and  fruit,  as  they  still  are,  Avere  for  the  healing  and  the  vigor  of  the 
nation. 

IV.    ADMINISTRATIONS    IN    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 

The  first  charter  having  been  granted,  the  trustees  took  measures 
for  the  opening  of  the  college.  In  their  announcement,  made  on  the 
13th  of  February,  1747,  they  promised  that  it  should  be  open  to  the 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  221 

public  in  May.  Neither  its  ])residiiig  officer  nor  the  place  wliere  iu- 
striu'tion  would  be  giveu  was  named,  but  on  the  27th  of  April  they 
were  able  to  say : 

The  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  have  appointed  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Dickinson  president  of  said  college,  which  will  be  opened  in  the  fourth  week  of  May 
next,  at  Elizabethtowu,  at  which  time  and  place  all  persons  suitably  qualified  maj' 
be  admitted  to  an  academic  eduratiou.' 

No  records  remain  from  which  can  be  ascertained  the  number  of 
students  during  this  first  session.  In  1748,  however,  6  students  were 
granted  the  degree  of  bachelor.  "It  is  morally  certaiu,"  says  Dr. 
Maclean,  "that  some,  if  not  all  of  them,  had  been  in  training  under  the 
supervision  and  instruction  of  President  Dickinson."  One  was  Eichard 
Stockton,  afterwards  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  J\lr. 
Dickinson's  work  as  i)resident  was  very  brief.  It  began  in  the  fourth 
week  of  May,  1747.  He  died  before  the  first  week  of  the  following 
October  had  closed.  The  man  to  whom,  as  much  as  to  auy  siugle  per- 
son, the  college  was  indebted  for  its  existence,  for  the  high  ideas  which 
informed  it,  and  for  the  cordial  cooperation  of  the  church  and  state  in 
its  establishment,  was  i^ermitted  only  to  launch  it  njion  its  career.  We 
possess  no  account  of  the  curriculum  to  which  we  can  appeal  in  justifi- 
cation of  the  degree  granted  to  these  first  graduates.  Their  title  rests 
solely  upon  the  fact  that  they  had  pursued  with  credit  a  course  which 
Jonathan  Dickinson  and  Aaron  Burr  esteemed  adequate  for  the  first 
degree  in  the  liberal  arts.  President  Dickinson  was  their  j)riucipal 
instructor.  He  had  the  assistance  of  the  Eev.  Caleb  Smith,  a  graduate 
of  Yale,  the  pastor  at  Newark  Mountains,  and  later  one  of  the  most 
useful  trustees  of  the  college. 

Mr.  Dickinson  died  October  7,  1747,  and  the  following  notice  of  his 
death  and  burial  appeared  on  the  12th  of  the  same  month.  Dr.  Hat- 
field, the  historian  of  Elizabeth,  supposes  it  to  have  been  written 
by  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  of  New  York,  one  of  his  associate 
founders : 

On  Wednesday  morning  last,  about  4  o'clock,  died  here,  of  a  pleuritic  illness,  the 
eminently  learned  and  pious  minister  of  the  gospel  and  president  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  who 
had  been  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  town  for  nearly  forty  years 
and  was  the  glory  and  joy  of  it.  In  him  conspicuously  appeared  those  natural  aud 
acijuired  moral  aud  spiritual  endowments  which  constitute  a  truly  excellent  and 
valuable  man,  a  good  scholar,  an  eminent  divine,  and  a  serious,  devout  Christian. 
He  was  greatly  adorned  with  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Heavenly  Master,  in  the 
light  whereof  he  appeared  as  a  star  of  a  superior  brightness  and  influence  iu  the  orb 
of  the  church,  which  has  sustained  a  great  aud  unspeakable  loss  in  his  death.  He 
was  of  uncommon  and  very  extensive  usefulness.  He  boldly  appeared  in  the  defense 
of  the  great  and  important  truths  of  our  most  holy  religion  and  the  gospel  doctrines 
ol  the.  free  and  sovereign  grace  of  God.  He  was  a  zealous  professor  of  godly  practice 
and  godly  living,  and  a  bright  ornament  to  his  profession.     In  times  and  cases  of 

'  "At  the  time  specified  the  first  term  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was  opened  at 
Mr.  Dickinson's  house,  on  the  south  side  of  the  old  Rahway  road,  directly  west  of 
Race  street." — Hatfield's  History  of  Elizabeth,  p.  350. 


222  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

tlifficulty  he  was  a  wise  and  able  counselor.  By  his  death  our  infant  college  is 
deprived  of  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  his  superior  accomplishments,  which 
afforded  a  favorable  prospect  of  its  future  flourishing  and  prosperity  under  his 
inspection.  His  remains  were  decently  interred  here  yesterday,  when  the  Rev,  Mr, 
Pierson,  of  AVoodbridge,  preached  his  funeral  sermon.  As  he  lived  desired  of  all,  so 
never  any  person  in  these  parts  died  more  lamented.  Our  fathers,  where  are  they? 
and  fhe  prophets,  do  they  live  forever? 

Mr,  Dickinson  was  08  years  of  age  when  lie  was  elected  president  of 
the  college.  He  was  the  most  eminent  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  Born  in  Massachusetts  in  1G88,  and  graduated  at  Yale  in 
ITOGj  he  was  not  21  when  he  became  the  minister  of  the  church  of 
Elizabethtown. 

It  was  a  weighty  charge  to  be  laid  on  such  youthful  shoulders.  And 
yet  not  too  weighty,  as  the  sequel  j)roved.  Quietly  and  diligently  he 
applied  himself  to  his  work,  and  his  success  presently  appeared  to  all. 
It  was  not  long  before  he  took  ranlc  among  the  first  in  his  profession.^ 

He  united  with  the  presbytery  in  171G,  and  his  church  followed  their 
pastor  the  next  year.  As  a  member  of  the  judicatories  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  he  labored  to  unite  its  discordant  elements,  and  was 
the  chief  author  of  the  adopting  act  of  1729,  the  synodical  act  which 
made  a  national  church  of  that  communion  possible,  and  which  is  sub- 
stantially its  doctrinal  basis  to-day.  As  a  pastor  he  was  not  only 
faithful  and  efficient  in  caring  for  tlie  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  his 
people,  but  helpful  every  way.  He  read  medicine  and  practiced  it; 
he  was  an  adviser  in  legal  difficulties,  and  greatly  aided  his  parishion- 
ers in  their  strife  before  the  courts  for  their  homes  when  their  titles 
were  attacked  by  the  East  Jersey  iiroprietors.  He  published  treatises 
in  theology,  apologetics,  and  church  government.  His  sermons  were 
regarded  by  his  contemporaries  as  among  the  ablest  preached  in  the 
colonies;  and  his  name  was  often  associated  with  that  of  the  elder 
Edwards  when  the  great  theologians  of  the  colonies  were  named.  He 
was  deeply  interested  in  religious  work,  and  united  with  Mr.  Pember- 
ton,  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Burr,  of  Newark,  in  promoting  a  mission 
to  the  red  Indians.  Long  before  174G  he  felt  the  necessity  of  a  college 
nearer  New  Jersey  than  Harvard  or  Yale;  and  he  did  all  in  his  power 
to  supply  the  want,  by  correspondence,  by  conference,  by  agitation  in 
the  synod,  and  by  opening  a  classical  and  theological  school  in  his 
own  house.  He  was  a  man  of  devout  religious  character  and  earnest 
evangelical  spirit.  Though  without  sympathy  with  many  of  the  meas- 
ures employed  by  Whitefield,  he  was  on  Whitefield's  side,  encouraged 
and  defended  him,  and  invited  him  into  his  pulpit.  He  was  a  man  of 
fine,  manly  presence,  and  serious  but  affable  in  his  intercourse.  It 
would  be  dit1i(;ult  to  name  another  American  clergyman  of  his  day 
more  widely  and  variously  active,  or  whose  activity  was  more  uni- 
formly wise  and  beneficent.    This  was  due,  as  far  as  it  could  be  due  to 

'  Hatfield's  Elizabeth,  p.  329, 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  223 

any  single  quality,  to  a  largeness  of  vision  wliicli  enabled  liim  to  see 
both  sides  in  a  controversy  and  most  of  the  factors  in  a  practical  prob- 
lem. So  far  as  his  inner  liCe  has  been  revealed  he  seems  to  have  been 
controlled  by  principle  and  impelled  to  action  by  high  ])urposes.  He 
was  a  man  of  calm  temperament;  and  his  gifts  and  attainments  were 
made  to  yield  the  very  best  results  to  a  resolute  will.  Yale  may  well 
be  i)roud  of  him  as  an  alumnus,  and  Princeton  may  well  cherish  the 
memory  of  the  first  as  that  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  her  presidents. 

Immediately  upon  the  death  of  Dickinson  the  care  of  the  college 
was  intrusted  to  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr.  The  students  were  taken  from 
Elizabethtown  to  iSTewark.  It  was  fortunate  that  Burr  was  so  near  at 
hand.  It  is  probable  that  the  academy  in  Newark  was  still  open.  But 
whether  it  was  or  not,  his  conduct  of  that  institution  made  it  compara- 
tively easy  for  him  to  take  charge  of  the  college.  Its  work  went  on 
without  interruption;  but  no  student  was  graduated  until  the  second 
charter  had  been  granted.  To  Burr  belongs  the  honor  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  curriculum  of  the  college,  its  ceremonies,  and  its  discipline. 
How  deeply  impressed  he  was  by  the  dignity  of  a  college  appears 
clearly  in  the  account  of  the  first  commencement,^  held  on  the  9th  of 
November,  1748,  and  of  the  inaugural  address  he  then  delivered.  The 
State  was  represented  by  the  governor  and  commander  in  chief  of  the 
province.  The  trustees  under  the  new  charter  subscribed  the  oaths 
and  declarations  which  the  charter  required,  and  elected  Burr  as  presi- 
dent. This  action  was  followed  by  the  exercises  of  the  commencement. 
The  procession  formed  at  the  lodgings  of  the  governor  and  moved  to 
the  place  appointed  for  the  public  acts.  The  charter  was  read  before 
the  audience,  who  stood  to  hear  it.  In  the  afternoon  the  president  of 
the  college  delivered  a  Latin  oration  on  the  value  of  liberal  learning 
to  the  individual,  to  the  church,  and  to  the  state.  He  unfolded  the 
benefits  conferred  by  the  universities  on  Great  Britain  and  congratu- 
lated his  countrymen  that  as  soon  as  the  English  planters  of  America 
had  formed  a  civil  state  they  wisely  laid  religion  and  learning  at  the  foun- 
dation of  their  commonwealth,  and  always  regarded  them  as  the  firmest 
pillars  of  the  government.  He  referred  with  gratitude  to  the  growing 
reputation  of  Harvard  College  in  New  Cambridge  and  Yale  College  in 
New  Haven,  which  had  sent  forth  many  hundreds  of  learned  men  of  vari- 
ous stations  and  characters  in  life  who  had  proved  the  honor  and  orna 
ment  of  their  country.    Most  of  the  literati  present,  said  Mr.  Burr,  looked 

1  The  reporter  of  this  commencement  was  one  of  the  trustees,  William  Smith,  who 
was  a  corporator  imder  both  charters.  He  was  not  only  a  graduate  of  Yale  College, 
but  his  interest  in  the  acts  of  the  new  institution,  whose  first  commencement  he  has 
narrated,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  held  the  position  of  tutor  in  his  ahua  mater 
for  five  years.  He  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  in  the  province  of  New 
York,  a  man  of  great  influence  in  colonial  politics,  earnestly  desirous  of  a  union 
aiuong  the  colonies,  and  a  member  of  the  congress  held  at  Albany  to  secure  a  union 
between  them.  Upon  his  death  the  New  York  Gazette  described  hiui  as  a  gentle- 
man of  great  erudition,  the  most  elo(xuent  speaker  in  the  iirovince,  and  a  zealous 
aud  inflexible  friend  to  the  cause  of  religion  and  liberty. 


224  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

to  tbe  one  or  the  other  of  these  colleges  as  their  alma  mater.  The  sun 
of  learning  had  now  in  its  western  movement  begun  to  dawn  upon  the 
IH'Ovince  of  j!^ew  Jersey.  They  were  fortunate  in  having  as  their  gener- 
ous patron  their  most  excellent  governor,  Avho,  from  his  own  acquaintance 
with  academic  studies,  well  knowing  the  importance  of  a  learned  educa- 
tion, and  being  justly  sensible  that  in  nothing  he  could  more  subserve 
to  the  honor  and  interest  of  His  Majesty's  government  and  to  the  real 
good  and  happiness  of  his  subjects  in  New  Jersey  than  by  granting 
them  the  best  means  to  render  themselves  a  religious,  wise,  and  know- 
ing people,  had,  upon  his  ha[)py  accession  to  his  government,  made  the 
erection  of  a  college  in  this  province  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the 
liberal  arts  and  sciences  the  immediate  object  of  his  attention  and 
care.  He  spoke  with  gratitude  of  his  excellency's  friendship  shown  in 
the  ample  privileges  granted  in  His  Majesty's  royal  charter  of  the  col- 
lege; privileges,  said  Mr.  Burr,  the  most  ample  possible  consistent  with 
the  natural  and  religious  rights  of  mankind.  He  spoke,  in  a  tone  not 
only  of  congratulation  but  of  triumph,  of  the  provision  of  the  charter 
which  grants  free  and  equal  liberty  and  advantages  of  education  in  the 
college,  any  different  sentiments  in  religion  notwithstanding,  asserting 
that  in  this  provision  they  saw  the  ax  laid  to  the  root  of  that  anti- 
Christian  bigotry  which  had  in  every  age  been  the  parent  of  jiersecu- 
tion  and  the  plague  of  mankind,  and  that  by  the  tenor  of  the  charter 
such  bigotry  could  assume  no  place  in  tlie  College  of  New  Jersey.  The 
disputations  of  the  students  followed.  These  were  carried  on  in  Latin. 
Six  questions  in  philosophy  and  theology  were  debated.  The  reporter 
of  the  commencement  names  only  one:  "  An  libertas  ageudi  secundum 
dictamina  couscienti;e,  in  rebus  mere  religiosis,  ab  ulla  potestate 
humana  coerceri  debeat?"  Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  disputations, 
the  president  presented  the  candidates  to  the  trustees,  asking  whether 
it  was  their  pleasure  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  the  degree  of 
bachelor  of  the  arts;  and  the  degrees  were  bestowed.  The  degree 
of  master,  honoris  causa,  was  accepted  by  the  governor.  An  oration  of 
welcome  was  then  pronounced  in  Latin  by  Mr.  Daniel  Thane,  one  of  1  he 
new  bachelors.  Like  the  discourse  of  the  president,  it  was  a  eulogy  of 
the  liberal  arts,  in  view  of  the  benefits  they  yielded  to  mankind  in 
private  and  in  social  life,  and  was  concluded  by  an  expression  of  the 
gratitude  of  the  bachelors  to  his  excellency,  the  governor,  the  trustees, 
and  the  president  of  the  college.  After  the  public  exercises  the  trus- 
tees met,  adopted  the  college  seal,  and  enacted  laws  for  the  regulation 
of  the  students.  "Thus,"  concludes  the  reporter,  "the  first  appear- 
ance of  a  college  In  New  Jersey,  having  given  universal  satisfaction, 
even  the  unlearned  being  pleased  with  the  external  solemnity  and 
decorum  which  they  saw,  it  is  hoped  that  this  infant  college  will  meet 
with  due  encouragement  from  all  public-spirited,  generous  minds;  and 
that  the  lovers  of  mankind  will  wish  it  prosperity  and  contribnte  to 
its  support."     Princeton    University  may  well  congratulate  itself  on 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  225 

the  first  public  appearance  of  the  college  in  its  annual  ceremony-,  on 
the  stately  and  decorous  observances,  and  the  hirg-e-niiudedness  of  the 
president's  inaugural  discourse. 

The  college  laws  passed  by  the  trustees  on  the  same  day  show  the 
standard  of  admission  to  have  been  for  the  time  a  liigh  one.  No  one 
could  be  admitted  to  the  college  who  was  not  able  to  render  Yirgil  and 
Cicero's  orations  into  English,  translate  English  into  true  and  gram- 
matical Latin,  translate  the  Gospels  into  Latin  or  English,  and  give  the 
grammatical  construction  of  the  words.  The  curriculum  of  the  college 
was  in  harmony  with  its  standard  of  admission.  The  Latin  and  Greek 
languages  and  mathematics  were  studied  throughout  the  entire  course. 
Physical  science  was  represented  by  natural  pliilosophj^ and  astronomy. 
Logic  was  studied  with  text-book,  and  its  practice  was  secured  by  dis- 
cussions. Rhetoric  was  taught  in  the  same  way ;  and  essays  and  decla- 
mations were  required.  Mental  and  moral  philosopliy  were  prominent 
studies  of  the  higher  classes. 

The  loss  of  the  minutes  of  the  faculty  makes  it  impossible  to  ]irescut 
in  detail  tlie  curriculum  and  the  methods  of  instruction.  I>ut  we  are 
fortunate  in  possessing  letters  of  Joseph  Shippen  of  Philadelphia,  the 
son  of  Judge  Edward  Shippen,  a  trustee  of  the  college,  which  give  us 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  life  of  a  student.  In  1750  he  was  a  member  ot 
the  freshman  class.  In  a  letter  to  his  father,  written  in  French,  he 
says: 

But  I  must  give  you  an  account  of  my  studies  at  the  present  time.  At  7  in  the 
morning  wo  recite  to  the  president  lessons  in  the  vrorks  of  Xenopbou  in  Greek,  and 
in  Watts'  Ontology.  The  rest  of  the  morning,  until  dinner  time,  we  study  Cicero 
De  Oratore  and  the  Hebrew  grammar,  and  recite  our  lessons  to  ilr.  Sherman,  the 
college  tutor.  The  remaining  part  of  the  day  we  spend  in  the  study  of  Xenopbou 
and  ontology,  to  recite  the  next  morning.  And  besides  these  things,  we  dispute 
once  every  week  after  the  syllogistic  method ;  and  now  and  then  we  learn  geography. 

Two  months  later  he  requests  his  father  to  send  him  "  Tully's 
Orations,  which,"  he  adds,  "I  shall  have  occasion  to  use  immediatel3\" 
In  a  letter  of  May  12,  I'ioO,  he  says: 

I  believe  I  shall  not  want  any  more  books  till  I  come  to  Philadelphia,  when  I  can 
bring  them  with  me,  which  will  be  Gordon's  Geographical  Grammar,  and  (it  may 
be)  Watts's  Astronomy  and  a  book  or  two  of  logic.  We  have  to-day  a  lesson  on  the 
globes.  As  I  have  but  little  time  but  w^hat  I  must  employ  in  my  studies,  I 
can't  enlarge,  otherwise  I  would  give  you  some  account  of  our  college,  as  to  the 
constitution,  method,  and  customs,  but  must  leave  that  till  I  see  you. 

On  the  1st  of  June  he  writes: 

I  shall  learn  Horace  in  a  little  while;  *  *  *  but  my  time  is  filled  up  in  study- 
ing Virgil,  Greek  Testament,  and  rhetoric,  so  that  I  have  no  time  hardly  to  look 
over  any  French,  or  algebra,  or  any  English  book  for  my  improvement.  However, 
I  shall  accomplish  it  soon.  *  *  »  The  president  tells  our  class  that  we  must  go 
into  logic  this  week,  and  I  shall  have  occasion  for  Watts's  Book  of  Logic. 

The  letters  of  young  Shippen  show  clearly  the  studies  of  the  fresh- 
man  class.      Watts's   Astronomy  is,  in  all  probability,  the  volume 
20687— No.  23 15 


226  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

entitled  The  Knowledge  of  the  Heavens  and  the  Earth  Made  Easy; 
or,  The  First  Principles  of  Geography  and  Astronomy  Explained,  an 
octavo  i)ublished  first  in  172G,  the  sixth  edition  of  which  appeared  in 
17G0.  Its  author  was  Isaac  Watts,  whose  Imitations  of  the  Psalms 
was  already  beginning  to  disjilace  the  version  of  Ivouse  in  the  Presby- 
terian cliurches.  He  was  the  author  also  of  the  book  of  logic  which 
Shippen  studied;  and  of  this  book  Dr.  Johnson  has  said:  "It  has  been 
received  into  the  universities,  and  therefore  wants  no  private  recom- 
mendation. If  he  owes  part  of  it  to  Le  Clerc,  it  must  be  considered 
that  no  man.  who  undertakes  merely  to  methodize  or  illustrate  a  system, 
pretends  to  be  its  author."  The  text-book  which  in  the  correspondence 
is  called  Watts's  Ontology  is  the  same  author's  Essay  on  the  Improve- 
ment of  the  Mind;  or,  Supplement  to  the  Art  of  Logic.  It  had  a  wide 
circulation  and  a  long  life.  It  appeared  first  in  1741  as  a  single  octavo 
volume,  and  when  Shippen  studied  it  at  Princeton  was  in  its  third 
edition.  As  early  as  17G2  it  was  translated  into  the  French,  and  pub- 
lished at  Lausanne.  Dr.  Johnson  not  only  acknowledges  his  own 
indebtedness  to  it,  but  adds,  "Whoever  has  the  care  of  instructing 
others  may  be  charged  with  deficiency  in  his  duty  if  this  book  is  not 
commended.''  Isaac  Watts  was  not  a  university  man.  The  Independ- 
ents of  England,  in  his  day,  had  to  rely  for  their  education  on  private 
academies.  Few  men  of  his  age,  however,  had  their  powers  so  well  in 
hand  as  he  had  his,  and  few  men  have  employed  their  powers  more 
usefully.  His  literary  product  is  enormous  in  its  bulk  and  wide  in  its 
range.  His  sympathy  with  youth  made  him  an  admirable  composer  of 
text  books.  While  England  during  the  eighteenth  century  i)roduced 
many  Avriters  of  far  greater  attainments  and  endowments,  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  it  produced  any  other  so  immediately  and  widely 
useful. 

The  sophomore  class  studied  rhetoric,  mathematics,  natural  jihiloso- 
phy  and  astronomy,  and  continued  their  classical  reading.  Astronomy 
was  studied  with  the  aid  of  a  text  book  and  the  orrery  constructed  by 
David  liittenhouse.  The  text-book  in  natural  philosophy  was  a  work 
in  two  volumes.  Its  author  was  Benjamin  Martin,  a  learned  optician, 
who  appears  to  have  been  as  prolific  a  writer  as  Isaac  AVatts,  and 
whose  works,  in  tlieir  day,  were  highly  esteemed.  No  less  than  thirty- 
one  of  his  works  were  published.  His  natural  jthilosophy  was  entitled 
Philosophia  I>ritannica,  a  New  and  Comprehensive  System  of  the  New- 
tonian Philosophy,  Astronomy,  aiul  Geography,  with  Notes.  He  con- 
ducted a  school,  made  ojjtical  instruments,  invented  a  reflecting 
microscope,  and  enjoyed  a  high  rei)utati()n  as  a  maker  of  spectacles. 
He  wrote  on  natural  i)hilosophy,  on  ele(;tricity,  on  the  construction  of 
globes,  and  on  the  elements  of  optics. 

The  study  of  the  classics  was  continued  until  graduation.  The 
seniors  had  a  special  course  in  ethics,  using  as  a  text-book  Henry 
Groves's  System  of  Moral  Philosophy,  in  two  volumes.     As  early  as  the 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  227 

administration  of  President  Burr,  more  time  than  was  customary  in 
colleges  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  mathematics  and  natural  science. 
Optional  studies  Avere  pursued  in  these  brandies.  In  1752  Shippen 
writes  as  follows:  "The  president  has  been  instructing  two  or  three  of 
us  in  the  calculation  of  eclipses."  He  also  speaks  of  his  studying, 
outside  of  the  necessary  exercises  of  the  college,  the  theory  of 
navigation. 

While  President  Burr  was  organizing  the  curriculum  the  trustees 
were  conferring  and  corresponding  about  the  permanent  location  of  the 
college.  Newark  was  too  near  to  New  York  City  to  satisfy  the  trustees 
residing  in  Pennsylvania.  It  was  important,  if  the  college  was  to  retain 
the  support  of  the  communities  represented  in  the  board  of  trustees, 
that  a  place  should  be  selected  which  would  be  reasonably  convenient 
to  both  eastern  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  Proposals  were  made  to 
two  of  the  central  towns  of  New  Jersey.  The  trustees  were  fully  aware 
of  the  pecuniary  and  social  value  of  the  college  to  any  town  in  which 
it  should  be  i)laced,  and  they  were  determined  not  to  plant  it  among 
any  people  who  were  unwilling  to  compensate  the  institution  for  its 
presence.     In  September,  1750,  they  voted — 

that  a  proposal  be  made  to  the  towns  of  Brunswick  and  Princeton  to  try  what  sum 
of  money  they  could  raise  for  the  building  of  tbe  college  by  the  next  meeting,  that 
the  trustees  may  be  better  able  to  judge  in  which  of  these  places  to  fix  the  place  of 
the  college. 

In  the  following  May  the  trustees  selected  New  Brunswick — 

Provided  the  citizens  of  the  place  secure  to  the  college  jL' 1,000  in  proclamation 
money,  10  acres  for  a  college  campus,  and  200  acres  of  woodland  not  farther  than  3 
miles  from  the  town. 

Meanwhile  the  citizens  of  Princeton  were  active  and  anxious.  They 
were  ready  with  a  proposition  as  to  land  for  the  building,  and  with 
promises  of  a  subscription  for  its  erection.  The  treasurer  and  another 
member  of  the  board  were  directed  to  view  the  land  at  Princeton,  and 
also  that  promised  by  the  inhabitants  of  New  Brunswick,  and  to  report 
to  the  trustees  in  the  following  September.  By  September  the  views 
of  the  trustees  concerning  the  respective  advantages  of  the  two  towns 
had  somewhat  changed,  and  from  this  time  until  September,  1752,  when 
it  was  voted  that  the  college  be  fixed  at  Princeton,  the  latter  place 
steadily  increased  in  favor. 

Princeton  was  almost  on  the  line  between  the  easiern  and  western 
divisions  of  New  Jersey.  Indeed,  it  lies  between  the  lines  made  by  the 
two  surveyors,  Keith  and  Lawrence.  It  is  almost  midway  between 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  its  one  street  was  a  i)art  of  the  great 
thoroughfare  between  them.  It  stands  upon  the  lirst  highland  west 
and  north  of  the  ocean;  and  this  highland,  though  but  a  little  more 
than  200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  is  the  first  of  the  foothills  of 
the  Appalachian  Mountains.  A  settlement  had  been  made  as  early 
certainly  as  1696.     Four  of  the  seven  families  of  settlers  belonged  to 


228  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

the  Society  of  Friends.  They  came  from  other  parts  of  ISTew  Jersey. 
The  three  remainiug  families  came  from  New  Engiand.  These  families — 
the  Clarks,  the  Oldens,  the  Worths,  the  Horners,  the  Stocktons,  the 
Fitzrandolplis,  and  the  Leonards — "  constituted  the  strength  and  sinew 
of  the  community,  not  only  at  the  beginning,  but  long  afterwards," 

A  few  miles  east  of  Princeton  stands  the  village  of  Kingston.  It  is 
thought  that  Kingston  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  stood  upon 
the  road  called  the  King's  Highway  between  New  Brunswick  on  the 
Raritan  and  Trenton  on  the  Delaware.  If  not  settled  before  Princeton, 
it  received  its  name  earlier,  and  its  designation  suggested  the  name  of 
the  town  in  which  the  college  was  placed.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  it 
was  called  after  William  the  Third  of  England  by  his  title  of  prince, 
and  that  the  name  of  the  college  building,  Nassau  Hall,  was  suggested 
to  Governor  Belcher  by  the  name  of  the  town  in  which  it  stood.  The 
conditions  insisted  on  by  the  trustees  were  all  met  by  the  people  of 
Princeton.  Mr.  Sergeant,  the  treasurer,  had  already  viewed  the  10 
acres  of  cleared  land  on  which  the  college  was  to  stand  and  the  200 
acres  of  woodland.  Final  action  was  taken  by  the  board  in  September, 
1752.  The  terms  of  payment  of  the  £1,000  proclamation  money  are  set 
forth  in  the  vote  of  that  date.  The  trustees  demanded  that  a  deed  of 
the  land  be  executed  by  a  certain  date,  or  the  privilege  of  having  the 
college  established  at  that  place  would  be  forfeited.  Four  and  a  half 
acres  of  ground  were  deeded  to  the  college  by  Nathaniel  Fitzrandolph, 
and  the  date  of  the  execution  of  this  deed  may  be  regarded  as  the  date 
of  the  college's  location  in  the  town  where  it  now  stands. 

It  was  determined  to  proceed  at  once  with  the  erection  of  two  build- 
ings— a  college  hall  and  a  house  for  the  i^resident.  It  was  voted  that 
the  college  hall  be  built  of  brick,  if  good  brick  could  be  made  at  Prince- 
ton. Fortunately,  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  the  vote  was  rescinded, 
and  stone  was  selected.  The  president's  house,  which  was  to  have  been 
built  of  wood,  was  built  of  brick.  The  exact  site  of  the  college  on  the 
land  was  selected  by  Samuel  Hazard,  and  the  plan  in  general  was  indi- 
cated by  Dr.  Shippen.  Each  of  them  acted  in  association  with  Mr. 
liobert  Smith,  the  architect  of  the  building.  The  ground  was  broken 
in  July,  1754.  Soon  afterwards  the  corner  stone  was  laid  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  cellar.  The  building  was  completed  in  1757.  It  was 
170  feet  long  and  54  feet  wide.  At  the  center  it  projected  toward  the 
front  4  feet  and  toward  the  rear  12  feet.  What  is  now  the  cellar  was 
then  the  basement.  It  had,  as  now,  three  stories  and  was  surmounted 
by  a  cupola.  Twice  since  its  erection,  in  1802  and  1855,  the  interior  of 
the  building  has  been  destroyed  by  tire,  but  the  honest  workmanship 
of  the  first  builders  has  enabled  it  to  survive  both  desolations.  Dr. 
Finley  thus  describes  it: 

It  will  accoiumodatc^  about  147  students,  computing  three  to  a  chamber.  These  are 
20  feet  square,  leaving  two  large  closets,  with  a  window  in  each,  for  retirement.  It 
has  also  an  elegant  hall  of  gentle  worlimanship,  being  a  square  of  near  40  feet,  with 
a  ueatly  linished  front  gallery.     Here  is  a  small,  though  exceedingly  good  organ, 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  229 

which  "was  obtained  by  a  voluntary  subscription,  opposite  to  which  and  of  the  same 
height  is  erected  a  stage  for  tlie  use  of  the  students  in  their  public  exhibitions.  It 
is  also  ornamented  on  one  side  with  a  portrait  of  his  late  majesty  at  full  length,  and 
on  the  other  with  a  like  picture  (and  above  it  the  family  arms  neatly  carved  and 
gilt)  of  His  Excellency  Governor  Belcher.  The  library,  which  is  on  the  second  floor, 
is  a  spacious  room,  furnished  at  present  with  1,200  vohiraes,  all  of  which  have  been 
gifts  of  the  patrons  and  friends  of  the  institution  both  in  Europe  and  America.  There 
is  on  the  lower  story  a  commodious  dining  hall,  together  Avith  a  large  kitchen, 
steward's  apartments,  etc.  The  Avhole  structure,  which  is  of  durable  stone,  having 
a  neat  cupola  on  its  toji,  makes  a  handsome  appearance  and  is  esteemed  to  be  the 
most  convenient  plan  for  the  purposes  of  a  college  of  any  in  North  America. 

Governor  Belcher  was  not  content  simply  to  enjoy  the  position  of 
official  patron  of  the  college,  lie  gave  to  its  interests  liis  time.  He 
commended  it  to  his  friends,  encouraged  the  trustees  in  every  way,  and 
was  oue  of  its  largest  benefactors.  It  was  api^ropriate  tliat  the  trustees 
should,  as  they  did,  propose  to  name  the  new  building  after  him.  Tliis 
honor  the  governor  declined,  and  requested  the  trustees  to  call  the 
building  Nassau  Hall,  as  "the  name  which  expresses  the  honor  we 
render  in  this  remote  i)art  of  the  globe  to  the  immortal  memory  of  the 
glorious  king,  William  the  Third,  who  was  a  branch  of  the  illustrious 
house  of  Xassau."  The  trustees  recorded  Ids  letter,  and  ordered  that 
"the  said  edifice  be  in  all  time  to  come  called  and  known  by  the  name 
of  Nassau  Hall."  The  college  was  removed  to  Princeton  in  the  autumn 
of  1756.  "In  that  year,''  says  Mr.  Eandolph  in  his  memoranda,  "Aaron 
Burr,  president,  preached  the  first  sermon  and  began  the  first  school  in 
Princeton  College."     The  college  opened  with  70  students. 

The  erection  of  this  building  required  a  large  addition  to  the  funds 
of  the  college.  The  friends  of  the  institution  in  the  colonies,  unable 
to  meet  the  whole  exi^euse,  sent  to  the  mother  country  a  commission  to 
ask  contributions.  The  governor  wrote  in  behalf  of  the  commission 
to  his  British  friends.  Two  clergymen  were  found  who  were  willing  to 
act  as  solicitors.  These  were  the  Eev.  Samuel  Davies,  of  Virginia,  and 
the  Eev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  necessary  to  their 
success  that  they  secure  the  sanction  of  the  synod  of  New  York.  Tlie 
commendation  of  the  synod  was  addressed  to  the  general  assembly  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  It  stated  the  importance  of  the  college  to  the 
congregations  under  the  care  of  the  synod.  It  set  Ibrth  the  services 
which  the  college  had  already  rendered  in  supplying  educated  and 
accomplished  ministers  for  these  churches.  It  certified  that  Mr.  Ten- 
nent and  Mr.  Davies  were  appointed  by  both  the  trustees  and  the 
synod,  and  recommended  them  and  their  mission  to  the  acceptance  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  Davies  and  Tennent  were  well  received  by 
the  Independent  and  the  Presbyterian  ministers  of  England.  The 
Scottish  general  assembly  heard  their  petition  favorably,  and  even  with 
enthusiasm,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  an  act  of  recom- 
mendation for  a  collection  in  the  churches.  This  was  the  more  grati- 
fying because  the  synod  of  Philadelphia,  or  several  of  its  members, 
had  endeavored  by  correspondence  to  put  stumbling  blocks  in  the  way 


230  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW   JERSEY. 

of  their  success,  no  doubt  because  of  their  desire  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  that  synod's  college.  Tennent  visited  his  native  Ireland,  and 
successfully  brought  the  subject  to  tlie  attention  of  the  synod  of  Ulster. 

"The  mission  of  these  gentlemen,"  says  Dr.  Maclean,  "was  success- 
ful beyond  all  expectation,  and  thc}^  obtained  an  amount  of  funds 
which  enabled  the  trustees  to  proceed  without  further  delay  in  the  erec- 
tion of  their  proposed  college  hall,  and  also  of  a  house  for  the  residence 
of  the  president  and  family." '  Tennent  arid  Davies  received  in  London 
about  £1,200,  and  from  the  west  of  England  aud  from  Ireland  Tennent 
obtained  £500.  Davies  collected  in  the  provinces  about  £400.  lu 
addition  to  this,  about  £300  was  contributed  for  funds  for  candidates 
for  the  ministry,  and  collections  for  the  college  were  made  in  the 
churches  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  by  order  of  the  general  assembly  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  and  of  the  synod  of  Ulster. 

The  college  had  now  been  in  existeuce  for  eleven  years.  It  had  a 
permanent  home  in  a  favorable  location,  and  was  the  possessor  of  the 
finest  college  hall  in  the  country.  Effective  measures  had  been  taken 
to  heal  the  schism  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  reunion  of  the 
two  synods,  which  brought  to  the  aid  of  the  college  and  to  its  patron- 
age a  far  larger  number  of  friends  than  up  to  this  time  it  had  possessed, 
took  place  in  1758.  But  before  the  reunion  two  of  its  most  important 
friends  passed  away.  Governor  Jonathan  Belcher^  died  on  Wednes- 
day, the  31st  of  August.  In  less  than  a  month  his  death  was  followed 
by  that  of  President  Aaron  Burr.  Governor  Belcher's  death  was  not 
unexpected.  He  was  almost  76  years  old,  and  for  several  years  he  had 
been  a  paralytic.  But  President  Burr  was  only  41,  and  it  had  been 
hoped  that  the  college,  whose  curriculum  and  discipline  he  had  so  wisely 
organized,  would  have  the  benefit  of  his  wisdom  for  many  years  to 
come.  Born  in  1716,  he  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1 735,  and  was  ordained 
at  Newark  in  1738.  For  nine  years  he  was  the  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  that  place,  and  conducted  also  a  large  Latin  school. 
In  1747,  on  the  death  of  Dickinson,  he  took  charge  of  the  college,  and 

'  History  of  the  College,  Vol.  I,  p.  152. 

^The  administration  of  Governor  Belcher  in  New  Jersey  was  wise  and  able  and  of 
great  advantage  to  the  province,  as  well  as  to  the  college.  Samuel  Smith,  the  his- 
torian, and  a  contemporary,  contrasts  his  career  as  governor  of  Massachusetts  with 
his  career  as  governor  of  New  Jersey.  In  Massachusetts  he  "  carried  a  high  hand  in 
the  administration,  disgusted  men  of  influence,  and  at  one  time,  putting  a  negative 
on  several  counselors,  occasioned  so  many  voices  to  unite  in  their  applications 
against  him  that  he  was  removed  from  his  government."  When  he  was  appointed 
governor  of  New  Jersey,  "ho  was  advanced  in  age,  yet  lively,  diligent  in  his  station 
and  circumspect  in  his  conduct,  religious,  generous,  and  affable.  He  afltected 
splendor  at  least  equal  to  his  rank  and  fortune,  but  was  a  man  of  worth  and  honor. 
And  though  in  his  last  years  under  great  debility  of  body  from  a  stroke  of  palsy, 
he  bore  up  with  firmness  and  resignation  and  went  through  the  business  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  most  difificult  part  of  the  late  war  with  unremitting  zeal  in  the  duties 
of  his  office."  No  act  of  his  administration,  however,  gave  him  greater  satisfaction 
than  his  grant  of  the  charter  of  1748  to  the  college.  From  the  day  of  its  grant  to 
his  death  he  was  among  its  most  active,  influential,  and  generous  benefactors. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  231 

was  reelected  president  under  the  new  charter.  The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith 
delivered,  by  appointment  of  the  trustees,  a  discourse  commemorative 
of  President  Burr,  in  which  he  is  presented  as  a  i)ea(e  loving,  studious, 
and  industrious  man  of  quick  and  large  intelligence,  and  showing  great 
wisdom  and  sagacity  in  the  government  and  administration  of  the  col- 
lege, devout  and  earnest  as  a  Christian,  and  as  a  iireacher  '-he  shone," 
says  Mr.  Smith,  "like  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.""  The  following 
extract  from  the  memorial  discourse  goes  far  in  explaining  the  wide 
popularity  he  enjoyed  and  his  .conspicuous  success  as  president: 

He  was  a  great  friend  to  liberty,  both  civil  and  religions,  and  generonsly  esponsed 
this  noble  cause  on  every  suitable  occasion.  As  he  abhorred  tyranny  in  the  state,  so 
he  detested  persecution  in  the  church,  and  all  those  anti-Christian  methods  which 
have  been  used  by  most  prevailing  parties,  somehow  or  other,  to  enslave  the  con- 
sciences of  their  dissenting  brethren.  He  was  very  far  from  indulging  a  party 
spirit  and  hated  bigotry  in  all  its  odious  shapes.  His  arms  were  open  to  a  good 
man  of  any  denomination,  however  he  might  in  principle  differ  or  in  practice  dis- 
agree as  to  what  he  himself,  in  the  lesser  matters  of  religion,  judged  to  be  prefer- 
able. He  was  no  man  for  contention,  and  at  a  wide  remove  from  a  wrangling 
disputant;  these  bitter  ingredients  came  not  into  the  compositicm  of  his  amiable 
character.  His  moderation  was  well  known  to  all  men  that  knew  anything  of  him. 
A  sweetness  of  temper,  obliging  courtesy,  and  mildness  of  behavior,  added  to  au 
engaging  candor  of  sentiment,  spread  a  glory  over  his  reputation,  endeared  his 
person  to  all  his  acquaintances,  recommended  his  ministry  and  whole  profession  to 
mankind  in  general,  and  greatly  contributed  to  his  extensive  usefulness. 

Four  days  after  the  death  of  Burr  the  commencement  of  1757  took 
place.  It  was  the  first  commencement  at  Princeton.  The  graduating 
class  numbered  22.  Without  any  delay  a  successor  was  chosen.  Seven- 
teen out  of  the  20  trustees  present  at  the  meeting  voted  for  the  father- 
in-law  of  Burr,  the  Eev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  of  Stockbridge,  Mass. 
It  required  no  little  pressure  to  induce  Mr.  Edwards  to  leave  Stock- 
bridge  and  his  work  among  the  Indians.  It  was  the  more  difficult 
because  his  life  there  gave  him  the  time  and  the  seclusion  needed  for 
study  and  composition.  To  quote  the  language  of  tbe  trustees,  "he 
came  only  after  repeated  requests."  An  ecclesiastical  council,  in 
December,  1757,  released  him  from  his  labors  at  Stockbridge.  He 
reached  Princeton  and  was  qualified  as  president  on  the  16th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1758.  One  week  later  he  was  inoculated  for  the  smallpox  and 
died  on  the  22d  of  March.  He  preached  before  the  college,  but  did 
little  teaching.     We  are  told  that — 

he  did  nothing  as  president,  unless  it  was  to  give  out  some  rjuestions  in  divinity  to 
the  senior  class,  to  be  answered  before  him;  each  one  having  opportunity  to  study 
and  write  what  he  thought  proper  upon  them.  When  they  came  together  to  answer 
them,  they  found  so  much  entertainment  and  profit  by  it,  especially  by  the  light 
and  instruction  Mr.  Edwards  communicated  in  what  he  said  upon  the  (|uestion8, 
when  they  had  delivered  what  the.y  had  to  say,  they  spoke  of  it  with  the  greatest 
satisfaction  and  wonder.' 

We  can  easily  understand  how  great  a  blow  the  death  of  this  great 
man,  almost  immediately  after  his  accession  to  the  presidency,  must 

'  Edwards's  Works,  Biographical  Introduction. 


232  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Lave  beeu  to  the  college.  Bat  the  fact  that  he  had  accepted  the  presi- 
dency position  gave  celebrity  to  the  college,  and,  though  lie  was  not 
permitted  to  labor  for  it,  the  college  has  always  derived  great  advan- 
tage from  his  illustrious  name.  "Probably  no  man,"  says  Dr.  Mae- 
lean,  "ever  connected  with  this  institution  has  contributed  so  much 
to  its  reputation  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Less  than  a  month  after  the  death  of  President  Edwards,  the  trus- 
tees met  for  the  election  of  his  successor.  They  turned  to  a  graduate 
of  the  elder  college  that  had  now  given  them  three  presidents,  and 
invited  the  Rev.  Mr.  James  Lockwood,  of  Weathersfield,  Conn.,  to 
take  the  vacant  place.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  speaks  of  him  as  a  man  of 
great  worth  and  high  reputation,  He  declined  the  election  as  later  he 
declined  the  election  to  the  jjresidency  of  Yale  College,  after  the  resig- 
nation of  Hector  Claj^p.  Up  to  this  time  the  i:>revailing  influence  had 
been  that  of  the  New  England  Presbyterians  of  East  Jersey.  The  first 
three  i^residents  were  graduates  of  Yale;  and  when  the  fourth  election 
was  held  another  Yale  graduate  was  chosen.  The  statement  of  Mr. 
Davies,  however,  that  himself  and  another  gentleman  divided  Avith 
Mr.  Lockwood  the  votes  of  the  trustees  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
what  may  be  called  the  New  England  element  had  to  face  formidable 
rivals  in  the  board.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  board  was  divided  into 
parties:  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  believe  that  the  trustees  from  East 
Jersey,  who  owed  so  much  to  the  two  colleges  of  New  England  and 
who  were  in  sympathy  with  their  methods  and  aims,  held  that  the  col- 
lege must  for  some  time  to  come  obtain  its  chief  executive  officer  from 
among  the  graduates  of  Yale  and  Harvard.  Two  or  three  considerations, 
however,  after  Mr.  Lockwood's  declinature  led  a  large  majority  of  the 
board  to  look  elsewhere.  The  now  disbanded  log  college,  whose  friends 
had  united  with  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  the  support  of  the  latter 
institution,  had  as  yet  been  given  no  representative  in  the  executive 
office;  the  patronage  of  the  college  was  more  and  more  found  in  the 
middle  and  southern  colonies;  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  devel- 
oping rapidly  a  distinctive  and  intiueutial  ecclesiastical  life.  Mean- 
while two  Presbyterian  ministers,  one  of  whom  was  graduated  at  the 
school  of  a  sou  of  the  log  college,  and  the  other  i>robably  a  graduate  of 
the  log  college  its6lf,  had  discovered  gifts  which  seemed  to  their  friends 
to  fit  them  for  the  presidential  office.  Both  were  prominent  ministers 
of  the  church.  One  was  eminent  as  a  sacred  orator,  the  other  as  a 
classical  scholar  and  teacher.  One  of  them  lived  in  A'irginia  and  the 
other  in  Maryland,  two  colonies  to  which  the  college  was  looking  for 
students.  When  Mr.  Lockwood  declined,  the  board's  attention  was 
fixed  exclusively  upon  these  two  men,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies  and  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Finley.  The  choice  fell  upon  Mr.  Davies.  He  was  chosen 
at  a  meeting  held  the  IGth  of  August,  1758.  At  first  he  declined  abso- 
lutely, ])artly  because  of  the  unwillingness  of  the  Virginia  Presby- 
terians to  give  him  up  to  the  college,  and  partly  because  he  believed 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  233 

that  Mr.  P'iiiley  would  make  the  better  president.  But  opposition  to 
Fiuley  developed  in  tlie  board,  and  a  way  was  found  for  the  release  of 
Davies  from  bis  Virginia  parish.  A  meeting  of  the  trustees  was  held 
in  May,  1759,  when  he  was  again  elected.  He  began  his  administration 
on  the  2Cth  of  the  following  July. 

The  new  president  was  the  most  eloquent  preacher  in  his  communion. 
One  of  the  historians  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,'  does  not  hesitate 
to  call  him  "next  to  Whitefield,  the  most  eloquent  preacher  of  his  age." 
His  Celtic  blood  endowed  him  with  the  gifts  of  vivid  emotion  and 
fervid  speech.  He  had  passed  through  a  religious  experience  as  violent 
in  its  i)hases  as  that  of  Bunyan  or  Whitetield.  The  classical  and  theo- 
logical education  he  had  received  at  the  school  of  Samuel  Blair  Jiad 
disciplined  his  powers  without  diminishing  his  enthusiasm.  He  was  in 
full  sympathy  with  the  theology  of  the  evangeli(;al  revival,  and  ardently 
adopted  the  measures  by  which  the  revival  was  j^romoted.  In  Virginia, 
where  the  Church  of  England  was  established,  and  where  it  was  nec- 
essary for  ministers  not  connected  with  the  establishment  to  procure 
from  the  general  court  licenses  to  hold  religious  services,  Davies  was  for- 
tunate enough  to  obtain  one.  He  was  settled  at  Hanover  as  the  pastor 
of  the  church,  but  his  eloquence  was  heard  in  the  neighboring  counties 
by  delighted  congregations.  "The  ditierent  congregations  or  assem- 
blies to  which  he  ministered  were  scattered  over  a  large  district  of 
country,  not  less  than  (iO  miles  in  length,  and  tbe  licensed  places  for 
l)reaching,  of  which  there  were  seven,  were,  the  nearest,  12  or  15  miles 
apart."-  In  addition  to  his  work  as  pastor  and  preacher,  he  was  the 
most  prominent  citizen  of  his  colony  in  maintaining  and  defending  the 
rights  secured  to  the  ^Nonconformists  by  the  A<?t  of  Toleration.  His 
addresses  and  correspondence  show  that  the  cause  of  religious  liberty 
in  Virginia  could  not  have  had  a  wiser,  abler,  or  more  faithful  advo- 
cate. What  large-mindeduess,  catholicity  of  spirit,  and  diplomatic 
courtesy  could  effect  was  secured  by  his  activity  to  the  dissenting 
Presbyterian  colonists  and  to  their  clergy.  The  contest  for  toleration 
was  long  and  doubtful.  Indeed,  toleration  was  not  finally  secured 
until  religious  liberty  was  won  by  the  separation  of  Virginia  from  the 
mother  country.  But  to  Davies,  as  much  as  to  any  one  man,  the  Pres- 
byterians of  Virginia  owed  the  confirmation  of  their  right  as  British 
subjects  to  worship  God  after  the  customs  of  their  fathers.  Amid  all- 
this  work  he  found  time  to  take  a  large  and  active  part  in  the  general 
work  of  the  growing  church  to  which  his  congregation  belonged. 
He  led  the  Presbytery  of  whicli  he  was  a  member  in  its  organization 
of  missionary  labors,  and  no  counsel  was  more  highly  valued  in  the 
synod  than  his. 

His  eloquence  and  ability  and  liis  popularity  in  Virginia  and  through- 
out the  church  by  themselves  might  well  have  led  the  trustees  to  invite 
him  to  tbe  presidency  of  the  college.  But  though  never  a  trustee  him- 
self, until  as  president  he  became  a  member  of  the  corporation,  he  was 

'  Dr.  Gillett.  2  Maclean's  Hist.,  Vol.  I,  p.  223. 


234  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

early  associated  with  it.  At  the  couimencement  of  1753,  as  a  candi- 
date for  master,  he  defended  the  thesis,  Personales  distinctiones  in 
Tiinitate  sunt  jeternte,  and  was  granted  the  degree.  It  was  as  a  laure- 
atus  of  the  college,  therefore,  as  well  as  one  of  a  commission  of  the 
synod,  that  in  November  of  the  same  year  he  sailed  for  Great  Britain 
with  Gilbert  Tennent  to  ask  contributions  for  the  institution.  The 
success  of  the  commission  was  largely  due  to  the  profound  impression 
made  by  the  j)reaching  and  the  charming  personality  of  Davies. 
Everywhere  he  went  he  justified  the  reputation  for  eloquence  which 
preceded  him.  He  was  hoard  seventy  times  in  (ireat  Britain,  and,  it 
is  said,  never  failed  to  produce  a  profound  spiritual  impression.  Kor 
did  his  sermons,  like  those  of  VVhitefield,  lose  their  power  to  interest 
when  reproduced  in  type.  Undoubtedly,  the  criticism  that  their  lan- 
guage is  often  loose  and  their  rhetoiic  often  turgid,  is  Just.  But  they 
are  great  discourses;  organized  by  one  who  knew  the  jjower  of  elo- 
quence and  could  wield  it,  suffused  with  feeling,  made  substantial  by 
weighty  truths  and  vitalized  by  the  spirit  of  the  Great  Awakening. 
The  popularity  of  Davies  as  a  preacher  survived  for  many  years  the 
man  himself.  Between  his  death,  in  1761,  and  the  close  of  the  century 
no  less  than  nine  editions  of  liis  sermons  were  pul)lished  in  England. 
These  were  widely  circulated  in  that  country  and  in  America.  It  is  a 
remarkable  tribute  to  a  literary  j)roduct,  the  whole  of  which  was 
thrown  off  rapidly  and  the  most  of  which  was  published  posthumously, 
that  was  paid  by  his  successor  in  the  presidency,  Ashbel  Green,  more 
than  sixty  years  after  Davies's  death:  "Probably  there  arc  no  sermons 
in  the  English  language  which  have  been  more  read  or  for  which  there 
has  been  so  steady  and  unceasing  a  demand  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury." Twenty  years  alter  this  tribute  was  paid  to  them  a  new  edition 
was  published  in  America  and  introduced  to  a  new  generation  of  readers 
by  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes. 

Davies  began  his  administration  of  the  college  at  the  commencement 
of  1759.  His  popularity  in  the  colonies  increased  the  number  of  the 
students  in  attendance  to  nearly  if  not  quite  100.  The  curriculum 
so  admirably  organized  during  the  presidency  of  Aaron  Burr,  as  far 
as  appears,  was  not  altered  or  extended.  Admission  to  the  freshman 
class  was  granted  on  the  same  terms,  except  that  the  candidate  was 
re(juired  to  demonstrate  his  acquaintance  with  "vulgar  arithmetic.'' 
The  annual  examinations  of  the  classes  were  open  to  the  public  and  any 
"  gentleman  of  education  "  i)resent  might  question  the  students.  The 
custom  of  i)unishment  by  fines  which  prevailed  was  so  far  changed  that 
the  tutors  were  i)erinitted  to  substitute  other  modes  of  correction  less 
than  suspension.  The  services  of  morning  and  evening  prayers  were 
varied;  a  chapter  of  Holy  Scripture  was  to  be  read  in  the  morning,  a 
psalm  or  hymn  to  be  sung  in  the  evening;  customs  which  were  observed 
until  evening  prayers  were  abolished  during  the  administration  of  Dr. 
McCosh.     One  change  in  morning  prayer  made  at  this  time  had  a  much 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  235 

sborter  life.  It  was  resolved  by  tbe  trustees  that  the  presideut  and 
tutors  might  appoint  a  student  to  read  a  passage  of  Scripture  "  out  of 
the  original  language."  The  catalogue  of  the  college  library  was  pub- 
lished with  a  preface  written  by  the  president,  in  which  he  urged  its 
increase  "as  the  most  ornamental  and  useful  furniture  of  a  college, 
and  the  most  proper  and  valuable  fund  with  which  it  can  be  endowed." 
The  whole  numbei-  of  volumes  in  the  library  was  less  than  1,200. 
"Few  moderu  authors,"  writes  President  Davies,  "adorn  the  shelves. 
This  defect  is  most  sensibly  felt  in  the  study  of  mathematics  and  the 
I^ewtouian  philosophy  in  which  the  students  have  but  very  imperfect 
helps  either  from  boolis  or  from  instruments."  The  question  of  the 
length  of  residence  necessary  to  secure  the  first  degree  in  the  arts  was 
discussed  by  the  trustees,  and  it  was  determined  that  "every  student 
shall  be  obliged  to  reside  in  college  at  least  two  years  before  his  gradu- 
ation." 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  contains  an  account  of  the  commencement 
of  1760.  The  odes  on  Science  and  Peace,  written  by  the  president  and 
sung  by  the  students,  and  the  description  of  the  orations  of  the  gradu- 
ating class  confirm  the  remark  of  Ashbel  Green,  that  President  Davies 
"turned  the  attention  of  his  pupils  to  the  cultivation  of  English  com- 
position and  eloquence."  His  effective  oratory,  we  can  easily  under- 
stand, deeply  impressed  the  students;  and  the  duty  of  preparing  and 
delivering  an  oration  each  month,  which  he  j)ut  upon  each  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  senior  class,  was  no  doubt  one  of  the  causes  of  the  estab- 
lishment a  few  years  later  of  the  Well-Meaning  and  Plain-Dealing  clubs, 
which  as  the  Cliosophic  and  American  Whig  societies  are  in  existence 
to-day. 

The  brief  administration  of  Davies  abundantly  justified  his  election 
to  the  presidency.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  then  tutor,  writing  soon  after 
Davies's  arrival  in  Princeton  to  begin  his  work,  says  of  him : 

He  has  a  prodiojions  stock  of  popularity.  I  tliiuk  iu  this  respect  equal  if  not 
superior  to  the  late  President  Burr.  He  has  something  very  winning  and  amiable 
iu  his  deportment,  and  at  the  same  time  commanding  reverence  and  respect,  so  that 
he  appears  as  likely  to  shine  in  this  character  as  anyone  that  could  be  thought  of 
on  this  continent. 

He  was  indefatigable  iu  labor,  and  he  worked  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  rapidly  broke  down  a  constitution  not  strong  at  its  best.  In 
January,  1761,  "he  was  seized  with  a  bad  cold,"  which  refused  to  yield 
to  remedies;  an  inflammatory  fever  followed.  He  died  on  the  4th  of 
February,  1761,  when  only  37  years  of  age.  He  was  president  for  only 
a  year  and  a  half.     Heu  quam  exiguum  vitie  curriculum ! ' 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Davies  the  board  of  trustees  had  no  difficulty 
in  choosing  a  successor.  A  number  of  them  at  Davies's  first  election 
had  cast  their  votes  for  Samuel  Finley.  Davies  himself  thought  Finley 
better  fitted  than  himself  to  perform  the  duties  and  bear  the  burdens 

'From  the  inscription  on  his  monument  in  the  cemetery. 


236  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

of  tLe  office.  A  meeting  of  the  trustees  was  called  to  be  lield  the  28th 
of  May,  17G1,  but  a  quorum  not  being  in  attendance  a  second  meeting- 
was  held  three  days  later.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Finley  was  unani- 
mously chosen.  For  ten  years  he  had  been  an  active  member  of  the 
board,  and  was  perfectly  conversant  with  the  state  of  the  college.  He 
had  acted  as  president  pro  tempore.  Mr.  Finley  was  not  a  man  to 
postpone  an  answer  to  an  election  for  the  sake  of  appearances.  He 
was  exceptionally  frank  and  direct  in  speech  and  action.  We  need  not 
be  surprised,  therefore,  that  the  minutes  which  lecord  his  election 
contain  the  statement  that  '-the  said  Mr.  Finley  being  informed  of  the 
above  election  was  pleased  modestly  to  accept  the  same."  How  highly 
he  was  regarded  by  the  friends  of  the  college  is  evident  from  a  letter 
written  by  the  Kev.  David  Bostwick,  who  soon  after  became  a  trustee 
of  the  college,  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bellamy,  in  March,  1761.  Eeferring  to 
the  death  of  Davies  and  the  need  of  a  successor,  he  says:  "Our  eyes 
are  on  Mr.  Finley,  a  very  accurate  scholar,  and  a  very  great  and  good 
man.     Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  such  an  one  is  to  be  found.'' 

Samuel  Finley  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  the  county  of  Armagh,  of  a 
Scottish  family,  and  was  one  of  seven  sons.  Early  in  life  he  discovered 
both  a  taste  for  learning  and  fine  powers  of  acquisition.  The  religious 
education  which  he  obtained  in  the  family  determined  his  studies  in 
the  direction  of  theology,  and  he  looked  forward  to  the  life  of  a  minister 
even  before  his  familj^  migrated  to  America,  when  he  was  in  his  nine- 
teenth year.  He  reached  Philadelphia  in  September,  1734,  and,  as 
soon  as  i)ossible,  he  continued  his  preparation  for  the  ministry.  The 
six  years  which  intervened  between  his  arrival  in  1734:  and  his  license 
to  preach  on  the  oth  of  August,  1740,  appear  to  have  been  passed  in 
earnest  study  of  the  classics  and  of  divinit3\  At  all  events,  the  attain- 
ments for  which  he  was  distinguished,  which  gave  to  the  academy 
instituted  by  him  its  high  and  wide  reputation,  and  which  led  to  his 
invitation,  finally,  to  become  president  of  Nassau  Hall,  make  it  highly 
probable  that  this  period  of  his  life  was  passed  in  study,  under  the 
direction  of  one  no  less  competent  than  William  Tennent,  and  full  of 
Tennent's  evangelical  spirit.  He  was  licensed  when  the  evangelical 
revival  was  exerting  its  widest  influence.  He  threw  himself  into  the 
movement  with  great  enthusiasm,  preaching  Avith  earnestness.  For 
six  months  he  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  iSfew  lirunswick 
in  October,  1742.  Of  the  several  calls  received  by  him  he  was  disposed 
to  accept  one  from  Milford,  Conn.  His  presbytery  of  jS^ew  Brunswick 
sent  him  there,  permitting  him  to  preach  at  other  i)oints  if  the  way 
should  be  open.  A  second  religious  society  had  been  established  at 
New  Haven,  but  was  not  yet  recognized  by  either  the  civil  or  the 
religious  authorities.  Mr,  James  Pierpont,  a  son  of  the  Bev.  .lames 
Pierpont,  was  interested  in  the  new  church  and  invited  Finley  to 
preach  before  it.     This  was  illegal;  and  on  the  oth  of  September,  as  he 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  237 

WHS  abottt  to  occupy  the  pulpit,  he  was  arrested  nnd  imprisoned.  He 
was  indicted  by  the  grand  Jury  and  convicted  of  vagrancy,  and  sen- 
tenced to  be  exiled  from  the  colony.  The  sentence  was  executed;  and 
he  was  unable  to  induce  the  authorities  to  permit  his  return.  In  June 
of  the  next  year  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  become  the  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Nottingham,  Md.,  where  he  remained  for  seven- 
teen years.  Mr.  Ebenezer  Hazard,  some  time  Postmaster-General  of 
the  United  States,  says  of  Dr.  Finley: 

He  was  remarkable  for  sweetness  of  temper  and  politeness  of  behavior.  He  was 
given  to  hospitality,  charitable  without  ostentation,  exemplary  in  discharge  of  his 
relative  duties,  and  in  all  things  showing  liimself  a  pattern  of  good  works.  He  Avas 
a  Calviuist  in  sentiment.  His  sermons  were  not  hasty  productions,  but  filled  with 
good  sense  and  well-digested  sentiment,  expressed  in  language  pleasing  to  men  of 
science,  yet  perfectly  intelligible  by  the  illiterate.  They  were  calcnlatod  to  inform 
the  ignorant,  to  alarm  the  careless  and  secure,  and  to  edify  and  comfort  the  faithful. 

Such  a  man's  pastorate  would  be  likely  to  bear  fruit  in  the  quiet  and 
continuous  development  of  a  high  sentiment  in  the  community.  Before 
his  pastorate  he  engaged  in  some  religious  disputes,  and  these  are 
embodied  in  two  sermons.  Other  discussions  were  carried  on  by  him 
after  his  settlement;  but  his  only  publications  are  seven  discourses, 
the  last  being  a  sermon  on  the  life  and  character  of  his  predecessor, 
Mr.  Davies.  He  was  most  successful  as  a  teacher  and  as  the  adminis- 
trator of  the  two  educational  institutions  with  which  he  was  officially 
connected.  Not  long  after  his  settlement  at  Nottingham  he  began  to 
gather  about  him  i>upils,  following  the  example  of  William  Tennent,  on 
the  Neshaminy.  No  doubt  he  was  led  into  this  work  by  his  sense  of 
the  need  of  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  his  pui)ils  were 
not  all  of  them  candidates  for  the  sacred  ministry.  The  names  of  some 
of  the  more  distinguished  of  these  pupils  have  already  been  mentioned 
in  another  connection.  The  success  of  Mr.  Finley  in  the  Nottingham 
Academy,  and  the  impression  made  by  his  personality  and  his  learning 
on  his  brethren  of  the  ministry  led  many  of  them  early  to  think  of  him 
as  a  suitable  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  Nassau  Hall.  He  was 
president  for  live  years.  It  was  a  period  of  quiet  but  rapid  and 
healthful  development.  Tlie  number  of  students  was  increased.  The 
curriculum  was  enriched.  The  success  of  the  college  is  indicated  by' 
the  fact  that  during  his  administration  the  salaries  of  the  president 
and  the  faculty  were  enlarged  and  two  tutors  were  added  to  the 
teaching  force.  To  the  grammar  school,  founded  by  Burr  and  taken 
under  the  government  of  the  college  during  Burr's  jiresidency,  was 
added  an  English  school,  which  the  trustees  ordered  "to  be  under  the 
inspection  and  government  of  the  president  of  the  college  for  the  time 
being."  So  large  had  the  college  become  that  in  ITCI."),  at  the  last 
commencement  held  by  Dr.  Finley,  31  students  were  admitted  to  the 
first  degree  in  the  arts  and  11  others  were  made  masters.  The  presi- 
dent was  the  most  important  and  laborious  of  the  teachers.  Indeed, 
we  are  told  that  it  was  his  unremitting  application  to  the  duties  of  his 


238  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

office  that  impaired  liis  health  and  brought  about  his  death  when  only 
61  years  of  age.  The  impression  made  by  him  on  his  students  is 
indicated  in  the  words  of  one  of  them,  the  Kev.  Dr.  John  Woodhull,  of 
Monmouth.  "'His  learning,"  says  Dr.  Woodbull,  "was  very  extensive. 
Every  branch  of  study  taught  in  the  college  appeared  to  be  familiar  to 
him.  Among  other  things  he  taught  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  in  the 
senior  year.  He  was  highly  respected  and  greatly  beloved  by  the 
students  and  had  very  little  difficulty  in  governing  the  college."  Dr. 
Finley's  was  the  last  administration  during  which  the  instruction  of 
the  college  was  given  by  the  president,  aided  only  by  tutors.  As  yet 
there  were  no  professorships.  The  earliest  professor  named  in  the 
general  catalogue  is  John  Blair,  who  was  elected  the  year  succeeding 
Finley's  death.  During  Dr.  Finley's  administration,  however,  the  num- 
ber of  tutors  was  increased  by  two.  Among  these  were  Samuel  Blair, 
who,  at  the  age  of  26,  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  the  college,  and 
the  second  Jonathan  Edwards,  only  less  distinguished  than  his  father 
as  a  theologian,  and  for  two  years  the  president  of  Union  College. 

During  the  administration  of  Dr.  Finley  the  freshman  year  was  spent 
in  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek,  particularly  in  reading  Horace,  Cicero's 
Orations,  the  Gieek  Testament,  Lucian's  Dialogues,  and  Xenophon's 
Cyropicdia.  In  the  sophomore  year  the  students  read  Homer,  Longinus, 
etc.,  and  studied  geography,  rhetoric,  logic,  and  mathematics.  The 
l)ublic  exercises  in  oratory  and  disputation,  in  which  Davies  was  so 
deeply  interested,  were  increased  in  number  and  more  highly  organized 
by  Finlej'.  Both  forensic  and  syllogistic  disputations  were  held,  the 
former  in  English,  the  latter  in  Latin.  Even  Sundays  gave  the  students 
no  rest  from  intellectual  activity,  for  disputations  on  a  series  of  ques- 
tions prepared  on  the  principal  subjects  of  natural  and  revealed  reli- 
gion were  held  before  a  promiscuous  congregation.  Once  a  month 
orations  of  the  students'  own  composition  were  pronounced  before  a 
liublic  audience,  and  the  students  were  continually  exercised  in  English 
composition.  The  institution  was,  during  this  administration,  distinc- 
tively a  college,  not  a  university.  The  contact  between  the  teacher 
and  the  student  was  frequent  and  intimate;  the  latter  was  subjected  to 
inspection  and  to  discipline;  his  hours  were  carefully  regulated.  The 
relation  between  tutor  and  pupil  was  not  unlike  that  in  the  colleges  of 
the  English  universities.  The  students  were  distributed  into  the  four 
classes  which  still  exist,  and  the  social  distinctions  between  them, 
which  in  later  years  have  been  determined  by  the  students  themselves, 
were  determined  by  the  faculty.  "In  each  of  these  classes,"  saj^s  the 
authorized  account  of  the  college,  "the  students  continue  one  year, 
giving  and  receiving  in  their  turns  those  tokens  of  respect  and  subjec- 
tion which  ))elong  to  their  standings  in  order  to  preserve  a  due  sub 
ordination."  The  commencement  exercises  of  the  college  were  all 
announced,  and  many  were  conducted  in  Latin.  They  were  elaborate 
and  stately.  The  academic  proprieties  were  carefully  observed,  and 
the  "mixed  auditory"  must  have  been  impressed  if  not  edified  by  the 
large  use  made  of  a  language  of  which  the  most  of  them  knew  nothing. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  239 

The  period  during  which  Dr.  Fiiiley  was  i)resident  was  one  of  great 
political  excitement,  ill  which  the  institution  shared.  In  1700  a  com- 
mittee of  the  trustees  was  appointed  to  prepare  an  address  to  His 
Majesty  for  his  gracious  condescension  to  these  colonies  in  the  repeal  of 
the  stamp  act.  This  address  must  not  be  taken  to  indicate  a  deep- 
seated  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  and  the  other  members  of  the 
college.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  evidences  in  the  official  action  of 
the  institution  that  its  loyalty  to  the  mother  country  had  been  seriously 
weakened.  In  the  address  presented  by  the  trustees  to  the  governor 
of  the  i^rovince  in  1703  no  mention  is  made  of  the  Government  of 
Great  Britain,  and  there  are  no  protestations  of  loyalty  to  the  King. 
There  was  a  spirit  within  tlic  institution  preparing  it  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  "the  high  son  of  liberty  "  who  was  to  be  Fiiiley's  successor. 
Meanwhile  it  was  fortunate  to  have  enjoyed  for  five  years  the  direction 
of  the  clear  and  largely  informed  intelligence  of  Samuel  Finley,  and  to 
have  had  infused  into  its  life  his  own  enthusiasm  in  behalf  of  religion 
and  the  higher  learning.  Simple  in  character,  calm  in  temperament, 
devoted  to  books,  and  quiet  in  manner,  one  might  well  have  predicted 
that  his  life  would  continue  to  the  period  of  old  age.  But  his  too- 
abundant  labors  broke  down  a  constitution  never  very  vigorous.  He 
was  attacked  by  an  acute  disease,  and  died  in  Philadelphia,  after 
expressing  his  perfect  resignation  to  the  Divine  will,  on  the  17th  of 
July,  170G,  in  the  fifty- first  year  of  his  age. 

The  death  of  President  Finley  was  felt  by  its  friends  to  be  a  serious 
blow  to  the  college.  It  was  more  keenly  felt  because  the  college  had 
suffered  so  many  times  the  loss  of  its  i)resident.  In  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of  its  life  it  has  had  only  twelve  i)residents,  but  five  of 
these  were  in  their  graves  when  the  institution  was  twenty  years  old. 
Soon  after  Dr.  Finley's  death  the  board  unanimously  elected  the  Eev. 
Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  of  Paisley,  Scotland.  Mr.  Richard  Stockton,  a 
member  of  the  board,  was  in  England  at  the  time,  and  the  trustees 
requested  him  to  visit  Dr.  Witherspoon  and  urge  his  acceptance.  While 
awaiting  his  reply,  negotiations  were  carried  on  for  the  admission  into 
the  board  of  representatives  of  that  portion  of  the  now  reunited  Pres- 
byterian Church  which  had  taken  no  part  in  the  establishment  of  the 
college,  and  which  ui)  to  this  time  had  shown  little  interest  in  its  main- 
tenance. As  part  of  these  negotiations,  it  was  voted  to  increase  the 
faculty  by  the  election  of  several  professors.  One  of  the  new  professors, 
the  Rev.  John  Blair,'  professor  of  divinity  and  morality,  was  chosen 

'  Johu  Biair  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1720.  He  was  a 
younger  brother  of  Samuel  Blair,  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the  college.  He  was 
educated  at  the  Log  College.  He  was  ordained  in  1742,  and  became  pastor  of  the 
Middle  Spring  Church,  in  Cumberland  County,  Pa.  In  1757  lie  went  to  Faggs  INlanor, 
became  pastor,  succeeding  his  Vtrother  in  the  pulpit  and  also  as  the  i»rincipal  of  the 
classical  school.  He  jtrepared  many  students  for  the  ministry.  After  his  resignation 
as  professor  of  divinity  in  Princeton  College  he  was  settled  as  pastor  at  Wnlkill, 
Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  December  8,  1771.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander 
says  of  him  that  "as  a  theologian  he  was  not  inferior  to  any  man  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  his  day." 


240  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

vice  president  until  the  next  comnieucement.  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson, 
of  Philadelphia,  was  elected  professor  of  mathematics  and,  natnral 
philosophy,  and  Jonathan  Edwards,  then  a  tutor  in  the  college, 
and  the  son  of  the  president,  i)rofessor  of  languages  and  logic.  News 
having  reached  the  trustees  that  Witherspoou  had  declined,  the  board 
elected  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  pastor  of  the  old  South  Church  in  Bos- 
ton, to  the  presidency,  and  appointed  him  also  professor  of  rhetoric  and 
metaphysics.  Blair's  election  was  unanimous.  He  was  the  first  grad- 
uate of  the  college  elected  to  the  office.  He  was  only  20  years  of  age. 
He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  of  whom  mention  has  already 
been  made  as  the  founder  and  principal  of  the  classical  school  at  Faggs 
Manor,  in  Chester  County,  Pa.  He  was  graduated  in  1700,  and  was 
tutor  in  the  college  from  1701  to  1704.  No  man  in  the  church  at  that 
time  gave  greater  promise.  He  was  successful  as  a  student,  as  a  teacher, 
and  as  a  preacher;  but,  more  than  all,  he  impressed  men  by  the  beauty 
and  strength  of  his  character.  His  magnanimity  was  given  a  signal 
opportunity.  He  was  anxious  to  accept  the  position  to  which  he  had 
been  chosen  witli  cordiality,  and  he  had  every  reason  to  trust  himself 
in  the  office.  But,  like  the  trustees,  he  was  convinced  that  no  one  else 
could  so  well  occupy  the  position  as  Witherspoou,  if  only  he  could  be 
induced  to  accept  it.  He  placed  his  declinature  in  the  hands  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board,  to  be  presented  if  it  seemed  possible  to  secure  Witii- 
erspoon,  and  urged  on  the  trustees  the  policy  of  endeavoring  to  induce 
Witherspoou  to  reopen  the  question  of  removing  to  America.  This 
policy  was  successful.  Witherspoou  expressed  his  willingness  to  come 
if  he  should  be  reelected.  Blair's  declin:iture  was  accepted,  and  With- 
erspoou became  the  sixth  president  of  the  college. 

John  Witherspoou  was  at  this  time  45  years  of  age.  He  had  already 
had  an  intlueutial  career  in  the  Church  of  Scotland.  He  was  the  son 
of  a  minister  and  came  from  a  ministerial  ancestry.  His  father  was  an 
able  and  faithful  pastor,  and  throngli  his  mother  he  was  descended 
from  John  Knox.  When  14  years  of  age  he  entered  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  and  after  a  course  of  seven  years  became  a  licentiate. 
Both  his  collegiate  and  theological  courses  gave  promise  of  distinction. 
At  the  Divinity  Hall,  it  is  said,  "  he  stood  unrivaled  for  perspicuity  of 
style,  logical  accuracy  of  thought,  and  taste  in  sacred  criticism."  In 
1744  he  was  presented  by  the  Earl  of  Eglintou  with  the  liviug  of  Beith, 
in  West  Scotland.  Tliere  he  remained  for  between  twelve  and  thirteen 
years.  He  not  only  was  successful  as  a  parish  minister,  but  he  appeared 
before  the  i)ublic  as  an  author.  His  rtrst  voiume  gave  him  national 
fame.  It  was  entitled  "'Ecclesiastical  Characteristics;  or,  The  Arcana 
of  Church  Policy."  It  was  written  at  the  time  when  the  moderate  party 
was  dominant  in  the  church,  and  it  satirized  sharply  but  without  ill 
nature  the  i)rinciples  and  the  conduct  of  the  moderates.  The  wide 
ditt'erence  between  the  platform  of  the  parly  and  the  symbolical  plat- 
form of  the  church  oflered  the  satirist  a  fine  opportunity.     Witherspoou 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  241 

admirably  improved  it.  His  work  was  widely  read,  exerted  a  good  deal 
of  iutiuence  and  increased  his  popularity.  In  ten  years  five  editions 
were  published.  Soon  after  the  publication  of  the  first  edition,  which 
did  not  bear  the  name  of  the  writer,  he  printed  a  Serious  Apology  for 
the  satire,  and  coufessed  himself  its  authoi'.  Not  long  afterwards  he 
published  two  essays  in  theology — on  justification  and  regeneration — 
which  nuide  him  known  as  a  theologian  of  ability.  The  essays  embodied 
and  defended  evangelical  and  Calvinistic  views,  Ilis  ministry  at  Pais- 
ley was  <|uite  as  successful  as  that  at  JBeith.  Several  of  his  discourses 
were  })nblished,  and  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  in  1704,  gave  him  the 
degree  of  doctor  of  divinity.  At  the  time  of  his  call  to  the  presidency 
of  the  college,  he  was,  in  reputation,  behind  no  man  in  the  Evangelical 
party  of  tlie  Church  of  Scotland,  and  Avas  perhaps  better  able  than  any 
other  to  debate  in  the  assembly  with  the  leaders  of  the  moderate  party 
like  Blair,  Campbell,  and  Eobertson. 

When  Witherspoon  came  to  America  the  colonies  and  the  British 
Government  were  quarreling.  In  1764  the  stamp  act  was  passed.  The 
colonists  arose  in  alarm  and  auger  and  protested  against  it.  Two  years 
later  the  act  was  repealed.  But  the  fact  that  it  had  been  passed  and 
the  declaration  accompanying  the  repeal,  namely,  that  Parliament  pos- 
sessed the  right  to  tax  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  left  in  the 
minds  of  the  colonists  a  feeling  which  Lord  Shelburne  afterwards 
described  -'as  an  unfortunate  Jealousy  and  distrust  of  the  English 
dovernment."  Already  this  feeling  had  shown  itself  in  the  public 
exercises  of  Princeton  College.  More  than  once  the  college  orators 
had  been  enthusiastically  applauded  when  lauding  the  blessings  of 
political  liberty;  and  after  the  passage  of  the  stamp  act,  except  in  the 
vote  of  the  trustees  expressing  their  gratitude  to  the  King  for  its 
repeal,  there  is  no  evidence  that  in  any  academic  function  the  union 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country  was  mentioned  with  grati- 
tude or  pride.  This  silence  was  in  marked  contrast  with  the  custom  of 
the  college  in  earlier  days,  when  the  greatness  of  the  British  Empire 
was  a  favorite  theme  for  college  orator^".  A  few  years  earlier  than  the 
date  of  Witherspoon's  arrival  there  had  been  formed  in  the  college  two 
literary  societies,  called  the  Weil-Meaning  and  Plain-Dealing  clubs', 
out  of  which  afterwards  grew  the  Cliosophic  and  American  NVhig  socie- 
ties. In  these  clubs  the  enmity  to  the  home  Government  found  fre- 
(juent  and  at  times  violent  expression.  The  college,  the  province  in 
which  it  had  its  home,  and  the  provinces  on  each  side  of  it,  while  not 
so  active  as  Massachusetts  or  Virginia,  were  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
l)onulations  of  those  energetic  and  forward  colonies.  They  rejoiced  in 
tlie  meeting  of  the  first  Continental  Congress  in  Xew  York  in  October, 
17Go,  and  in  the  declaration  of  that  Congress:  "That  the  only  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  of  these  colonies  are  persons  chosen  therein 
by  themselves,  and  that  no  taxes  ever  have  been  or  can  be  constitu- 
tionally imposed  on  them  but  by  their  respective  legislatures."' 
1>0(J87— No.  23 16 


242  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Witlierspooii,  with  liis  family,  sailed  from  Loudon  iu  May,  1768,  and 
lauded  at  Philadelphia  on  the  0th  of  the  followiug  August.  He  was 
inaugurated  ou  the  17th  of  the  same  month,  and  delivered  a  Latin 
inaugural  address  ou  the  union  of  piety  and  science.  He  soon  showed 
himself  an  American  in  feeling,  and  soon  found  in  the  American  cause 
ample  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  his  best  gifts.  It  is  not  only  true 
that  '^from  the  beginning  of  the  controversies  which  led  to  the  war  of 
independence  and  to  the  severance  of  the  thirteen  united  colonies  from 
their  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  Dr.  Witherspoon  opeul^^  and 
boldly  took  the  part  of  his  adojited  country;"  it  is  also  true  that  he 
brought  to  this  work  political  talents  of  the  very  highest  order,  and 
personal  traits  which  made  his  migration  to  the  country  an  inestimable 
blessing  to  the  struggling  colonists.  He  was  bold  and  influential  as  an 
agitator;  active  with  his  pen  and  his  voice;  one  of  the  foremost  of  the 
party  of  action;  not  only  ready  for  a  declaration  of  independence,  but 
earnest  in  his  advocacy  of  it.  He  never  lost  hope  or  courage  in  the 
darkest  days  of  the  war,  and  he  was  wise  and  active  in  both  state  and 
church  in  the  constructive  period  which  followed  the  final  victory. 
Called  as  a  minister  to  the  presidency  of  a  Christian  college,  he  is  best 
known  as  a  great  patriot  and  statesman ;  and  he  must  always  occupy 
in  history  a  high  place  among  those  few  notable  characters  like 
Ambrose,  of  Milan,  and  his  own  ancestor,  John  Knox,  who  have  been 
great  iu  both  church  and  state. 

The  high  reputation  of  Witherspoon  at  once  lifted  the  college  into  a 
position  of  prominence  which  it  had  never  before  occupied.  He  began 
his  work  as  president  with  work  for  the  endowment  of  the  college. 
The  pecuniary  embarrassment  of  the  institution  was  so  great  that  the 
professor  of  divinity,  the  Rev.  John  Blair,  offered  his  resignation,  and 
it  was  accepted.  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  compelled  to  go  uj>ou  a  begging 
expedition  into  New  England,  from  which  he  returned  with  subscrip- 
tions for  £1,000  in  proclamation  money;  and  this  was  only  the  first  of 
several  journeys  on  the  same  errand.  He  was  an  earnest  and  laborious 
teacher.  He  took  the  place  of  Mr.  Blair  as  professor  of  divinity.  He 
was  most  popular  and  influential  as  a  teacher,  when  instructing  his 
pupils  in  mental  and  moral  philosophy.  In  addition  to  his  lectures  in 
divinity,  ijsychology,  and  ethics,  ''he  delivered  lectures  to  the  juniors 
and  seniors  on  chronology  and  history,  and  on  composition  and  criti- 
cism; and  he  taught  Hebrew  and  French  to  those  who  wished  it.*'  ]Mr. 
Hives,  the  biographer  of  Madison,  Witherspoon's  most  eminent  pupil, 
and  Ashbel  Green,  another  of  his  students,  both  call  attention  to  the 
emphasis  placed  by  Witherspoon  on  studies  on  the  constitution  of  the 
human  mind  and  fundamental  truth.  Dr.  McCosh  says  that  Wither- 
spoon was  a  man  of  action  rather  than  refiection;  and  his  judgment  is 
correct.  Xevertheless,  it  is  probable  that  no  contemporary  teacher  in 
America  was  more  successful  in  pressing  upon  the  minds  of  his  stu- 
dents the  great  features  of  the  system  of  philosophy'  he  expounded  and 
defended.     When  one  reflects  on  the  deep  impression  made  by  him- 


PRI>X'ETOX    UNIVERSITY.  243 

upon  the  intellectual  life  of  those  who  sat  in  his  lecture  room  and  who 
afterwards  became  eminent,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  no  professor  in 
an  American  college  has  won  greater  triumphs  as  teacher.  Wither- 
si)Oon's  strong  personality  made  him  an  uncompromising  college  ruler. 
He  followed  the  advice  which  he  gave  to  the  tutors,  namely :  '^  Maintain 
tbe  authority  of  the  laws  in  their  full  extent  and  iear  no  consequences." 
But  so  inspiriting  and  stimulating  were  the  man  and  his  lectures  that 
the  rigor  of  his  rule  is  not  often  mentioned  by  his  pupils.  Ashbel 
Green  and  Stanhope  Smith  and  James  Madison  were  won  by  him; 
their  energies  were  called  out  and  their  powers  genially  disciplined. 

The  plans  which  Witherspoon  and  the  trustees  had  formed  for  the 
enlargement  of  the  institution  were  largely  defeated  by  the  political 
events  then  occurring  in  the  country.  But  the  college  curriculum  was 
extended,  the  teaching  force  was  increased,'  endowments  were  secured, 
a  larger  body  of  students  than  ever  before  were  under  the  instruction 
of  the  faculty,  and  they  were  drawn  from  a  wider  area.     During  his 

"  One  of  tbe  professors  during  Lis  administration  was  William  Clmrchill  Houston, 
who  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1740.  He  came  to  Princeton  and  tauj^ht  in  the 
grammar  school,  afterwards  entered  the  college,  and  was  graduated  in  1768.  He 
was  at  once  appointed  a  tutor.  In  1771  he  was  elected  professor  of  mathematics 
and  natural  philosophy.  When  the  war  of  the  Revolution  began  he  entered  the 
Army  and  was  for  some  months  a  captain.  He  resigned  and  resumed  his  work  as 
professor;  but,  like  Dr.  Witherspoon,  he  was  elected  to  office,  first  as  a  member  of 
the  general  assembly  of  New  Jersey,  then  as  a  member  of  the  council  of  safety,  and, 
in  1779,  as  a  member  of  Congress.  He  resigned  his  professorship  in  1783  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1784  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  convention  at  Annapolis  in  1786.     He  died  in  1788. 

Another  of  the  professors  elected  during  Witherspoon's  administration  was  Walter 
Minto,  who  was  born  in  Cowdenham,  Scotland,  December  o,  1753.  At  15  years  of 
age  he  entered  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  "  After  completing  his  preparatory 
studies  he  turned  his  attention  to  theology,  rather,  it  would  appear  from  subsequent 
events,  to  meet  the  expectation  of  friends  than  from  his  own  unbiased  choice." 
During  this  period  he  devoted  ((uite  as  much  time  to  literature  as  to  divinity,  and 
became  a  frequent  contributor  to  a  periodical  called  The  Gentleman  and  Lady's  Maga- 
zine, published  in  Edinburgh.  He  visited  Italy,  having  in  charge,  as  tutor,  two 
sons  of  the  Hon.  George  Johnstone,  formerly  governor  of  West  Florida  and  member  of 
the  British  Parliament.  On  bis  return  he  resided  in  Edinburgh  as  a  teacher  of  math- 
ematics. "His  reputation  as  a  man  of  science  ajipears  to  have  been  considerable, 
arising,  probably,  from  his  correspondence  with  the  philosophers-of  Great  Britain, 
and  several  minor  publications  on  the  subject  of  astronomy."  In  connection  with 
the  Earl  of  Buchan  he  wrote  the  life  of  Napier  of  Merchistou,  the  inventor  of  loga- 
rithms, the  Earl  writing  the  biographical  portion  and  Minto  the  scientilic  portion, 
including  a  vindication  of  Napier's  claims  to  the  original  invention.  He  sailed  for 
America  in  1786,  and  became  principal  of  Erasmus  Hall,  a  school  at  Flatbush.  Long 
Island.  In  1787  he  was  called  to  the  professorship  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  in  Princeton  College,  as  the  successor  of  Ashbel  Green.  "Of  his  col- 
leagues and  pupils,  Dr.  Minto  enjoyed  the  confidence  in  an  unusual  degree.  He 
was  tbe  treasurer  of  the  corporation.  He  received  continual  applications  from 
parents  to  receive  their  sons  beneath  his  roof,  on  account  of  the  advantages  which 
they  supposed  would  be  enjoyed  within  the  limits  of  his  domestic  circle.  Tbe  text- 
books ill  mathematics  which  his  pupils  used  were  prepared  by  himself.  He  died  in 
Princeton  October  21,  1796." — Abridged  from  the  Princeton  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  Xo.  1. 


244  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

adiniiiistration  the  largest  class  which  was  graduated  in  the  eighteenth 
century  received  their  degrees.  It  must  be  added  that  during  his 
administration  the  smallest  class  was  graduated.  This  was  not  the 
lault  of  the  president.  The  position  of  Princeton  on  the  highway 
between  Xew  York  and  Philadelphia  made  it  a  perilous  place  during 
the  earlier  years  of  the  war  of  independence.  A  critical  battle  was 
fought  within  the  limits  of  the  village.  The  college  campus  was  the 
scene  of  active  hostilities.  Xassau  Hall  was  employed  as  barracks, 
and  cannon  balls  mutilated  its  walls.  There  are  few  memorials  in 
Princeton  more  highly  valued  than  the  two  cannons  now  standing  in 
the  campus,  both  of  which  were  used  in  the  war  and  were  left,  after 
the  battle  of  Princeton,  near  the  college. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Cliosophic  and  American 
Whig  societies,  the  two  literary  societies  of  the  college,  which  have 
been  in  existence  from  the  date  of  their  foundation  to  the  present  time. 
They  had  their  origin  in  two  debating  clubs.     The  earlier  name  of  the 
American  Whig  Society  was  the  Plain-Dealing  Club;  that  of  the  Clio- 
sophic Society  the  Weil-Meaning  Club.     These  clubs  appear  to  have 
been  organized  during  the  excitement  caused  by  the  passage  of  the 
stamp  act.     In  both  of  them  the  patriotism  of  the  college  found  expres- 
sion.    But  out  of  their  rivalry  there  grew  serious  disturbances.     These 
led  the  faculty,  in  1768,  to  forbid  their  meetings.    They  were  soon  revived 
under  different  names,  the  Plain-Dealing  adopting  a  name  indicating 
the   political  views  of  its  members,  the  Well-Meaniug  Society  one 
expressive  of  its  literary  aims.     But  politics  was  not  the  exclusive 
interest  in  the  one,  nor  was  literature  in  the  other.     One  word  in  the 
motto  of  the  Whig  Society  is  litterte,  and  the  founders  of  Clio  Hall  were 
quite  as  much  in  sympathy  as  those  of  the  Whig  with  the  aims  and 
struggles  of  the  colonists.    The  college  itself  does  not  possess  a  more 
distinguished  list  of  founders  than  does  each  of  these  societies.    William 
Paterson,  Luther  Martin,  Oliver  Ellsworth,  and  Tapping  Reeve  laid  the 
foundations  of  Clio  Hall;  and  James  Madison,  John  Henry,  and  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith  revived  the  Plain-Dealing  Club  under  the  name  of  the 
American  Whig  Society.     The  interior  life  of  these  institutions  is  not 
open  to  the  view  of  the  public.     Their  members  have  pursued  the  aims  of 
the  society  in  -essay  and  oration  and  debate  with  the  freedom  which 
belongs  to  sessions  held  in  camera.     Their  judges  have  been  their  peers. 
The  faculty  of  the  college  during  all  their  life  have  accorded  to  them 
great  freedom,  and  have  interposed  only  when  the  violence  of  youthful 
feelings  seemed  likely  to  injure,  if  not  to  destroy,  the  societies  them- 
selves.    Fortunately,  crises  of  this  kind  have  been  very  few.     The  sense 
of  independence  and  responsibility  has  given  to  the  societies  dignity; 
and  they  have  earned  the  tribute,  paid  in  later  years  by  President 
McCosh,that "  no  department  of  the  college  has  conferred  greater  benefit 
upon  the  students  than  have  Whig  and  Clio  halls.''    Perhaps,  at  no  later 
period  in  their  history  have  they  been  more  useful  than  they  were  during 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  245 

the  administration  of  John  Witlierspoon.  Life  during  tlie  periods  imme- 
diately preceding  the  Kevohitionary  war,  and  immediately  succeeding 
it  while  the  Constitution  was  being  formed  and  adopted,  was  intense. 
During  the  first  period,  the  question  of  the  maintenance  of  independ- 
ence was  agitating  every  man;  and  during  the  second,  the  problem  of 
the  new  government  which  was  to  unite  the  victorious  colonies,  offered 
itself  for  solution  to  every  thoughtful  mind.  It  is  an  intei'esting  fact 
that  the  two  plans  of  constitutional  government  for  the  United  States, 
which  were  debated  at  length  in  the  convention  which  formed  the  Con- 
stitution, were  presented  to  that  body  by  two  of  the  founders  of  these 
literary  societies.  The  one,  which  laid  the  greater  stress  on  the  rights 
of  the  individual  States,  was  presented  by  William  Paterson  of  Xew 
Jersey,  the  other,  which  contemplated  a  stronger  Federal  government, 
was  proposed  by  James  Madison,  of  Virginia.  During  the  war.  the 
societies,  of  course,  suffered  with  the  college;  but  when  the  war  had 
ended  they  were  revived.  Originally,  each  society  had  a  patronage 
dependent  upon  the  sections  from  which  its  members  came.  Ashbel 
Green,  who  was  active  in  reviving  the  American  Whig  Society  after 
the  war,  says  that  at  the  time  of  this  revival  ''  the  sectional  patronage 
was  entirely  done  away.''  Princeton's  interest  and  Witherspoon's  labor 
in  the  cause  of  the  colonies  against  the  mother  country  received,  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  what  the  sons  of  Princeton  Lave  always  interpreted 
as  an  honorable  recognition.  When  the  soldiers  of  the  army  mutinied 
and  surrounded  the  State  House  in  Philadelphia  where  the  Continental 
Congress  was  sitting,  Princeton  was  selected  as  the  temporary  capital 
of  the  United  States.  For  several  months  the  Congress  held  its  sittings 
in  the  library  room  of  Xassau  Hall,  and  the  rooms  of  the  students  were 
used  by  the  committees.  At  the  commencement  of  1783,  ''we  had," 
says  Ashbel  Green,  "  on  the  stage  with  the  trustees  and  graduating 
class,  the  whole  of  the  Congress,  the  ministers  of  France  and  Holland, 
and  George  Washington,  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  American 
Army."  Washington  contributed  for  the  uses  of  the  college  50  guineas, 
which  the  trustees  employed  to  procure  the  portrait  of  him,  painted  bj' 
the  elder  Peale,  which  now  hangs  in  the  portion  of  ^'^assau  Hall  in  which 
the  Congress  sat.  Writing  in  1842,  Dr.  Green  says,  "  The  picture  r.ow 
occupies  the  place,  and  it  is  affirmed  the  very  frame,  that  contained 
the  picture  of  George  the  Second,  which  was  decapitated  by  Washing- 
ton's artillery." 

At  the  close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration  in  1704,  the  college 
had  been  in  existence  nearly  half  a  century.  In  the  careers  of  those 
whom  an  institution  has  trained,  after  all,  is  to  be  found  its  title  to 
honor  or  condemnation.  The  general  catalogue  of  no  collegiate  insti- 
tution, for  the  first  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  presents  a  more  remark- 
able series  of  great  names  in  church  and  state.  The  clerical,  medical, 
and  legal  professions  are  represented  by  influential  and  illustrious  men. 
The  cause  of  the  higher  education  is  represented  by  great  teachers  and 


246  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

administrators.  To  the  Continental  Congress  and  to  the  Continental 
army  the  college  gave  eminent  and  patriotic  members  and  officers.  The 
graduates  of  no  other  college  were  so  numerous  or  so  influential  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention.  Its  alumni  were  to  be  found  in  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress,  in  the  legislatures  of  the  different  States,  in  the 
chairs  of  governors,  in  the  seat  of  the  Chief  Justice,  in  the  courts  of  the 
variousStates,in  the  cabinets  of  Presidents,  and  as  envoys  of  the  Repub- 
lic at  foreign  caj)itals. 

Of  the  earlier  administrations,  the  administration  of  Witherspoon  is 
the  most  illustrious,  if  judged  by  the  brilliant  careers  of  its  students. 
It  was  given  to  no  other  man  in  America  in  the  eighteenth  century  to 
take  the  most  prominent  part  in  the  education  of  thirteen  presidents 
of  colleges.  During  his  presidency  there  were  graduated  six  men  who 
afterwards  became  delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  twenty  men 
who  represented  their  respective  Commonwealths  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  and  twenty-four  who  sat  as  members  of  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives.  Thirteen  were  governors  of  Commonwealths,  three 
were  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  one  was  Vice-President,  and  one  was 
President  of  the  United  States.  Upon  the  characters  of  most  of  these 
Witherspoon  set  his  mark.  They  were  imbued  with  his  views  in  phi- 
losophy and  morals.  His  high  and  profound  religious  character  gave 
tone  to  their  lives,  and  his  patriotism  wrought  in  them  as  an  inspira- 
tion. If  the  greatness  of  a  man  is  to  be  measured  by  the  influence  he 
has  exerted  on  other  minds,  John  Witherspoon  must  be  remembered  as 
one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  Eepublic  during  its  heroic  period.  The 
close  of  his  administration  was  less  than  eight  weeks  in  advance  of  the 
close  of  his  life.  He  was  able  to  preside  at  the  annual  commencement 
on  the  23d  of  September,  1704.  On  the  loth  of  November, ''  veneratus, 
dilectus,  lugendus  omnibus,'" '  he  passed  to  his  reward. 

%'.    ADMINISTRATIONS    IN    THK    NINETEENTH    CEXTUKV. 

Ui3  to  the  close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  presidency  Princeton  College 
during  each  administration  derived  its  special  traits  almost  wholly 
from  the  president.  He  determined  its  curriculum;  he  exercised  its 
discipline  in  all  serious  cases;  he  begged  money  for  its  maintenance; 
he  led  its  religious  life ;  he  taught  several  branches  of  learning  to  the 
members  of  the  higher  classes.  The  distance  at  which  many  of  the 
trustees  lived  and  the  difticulties  of  travel  prevented  frequent  meetings 
of  the  board,  and  threw  on  him  responsibilities  in  number  and  variety 
far  beyond  those  now  devolved  on  college  presidents.  The  faculty  of 
instruction  was  made  u])  of  himself  and  two  or  three  tutors.  The  latter, 
by  the  constitution  of  the  college,  were  so  completely  under  his  direc- 
tion as  scarcely  to  deserve  the  name  of  colleagues.  The  relation 
between  the  president  and  tiie  students  was  immediate  and  close.  He 
stood  to  them  in  loco  parentis,  and  they  felt  at  liberty  to  go  to  him  at 

'  Fioni  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone. 


PRIXCETON    UNIVERSITY.  247 

all  times  for  advice  and  lor  aid.  Piiiicetou  was  fortunate  in  its  presi- 
dents. Each  was  fitted  by  bis  character  and  prepared  by  his  previous 
career  for  the  conduct  of  his  office.  All  had  been  pastors.  In  obedi- 
ence to  what  they  believed  to  be  a  divine  vocation,  all  in  early  manhood 
had  undertaken  the  cure  of  souls.  Some  of  them  had  successfully  con- 
ducted private  schools,  and  all  had  had  their  religious  affections  warmed 
by  evangelical  revival.  If  some  of  the  readers  of  this  historical  sketch 
should  be  disposed  to  criticise  it  because  so  much  attention  has  been 
given  to  the  presidents,  the  answer  is  obvious:  The  life  of  the  college 
was  almost  wholly  directed  and  determined  by  the  president  for  the 
time  being.  To  send  a  student  to  Princeton  was  to  commit  him  to 
Samuel  Davies  or  John  Witherspoon  for  the  formation  of  his  character, 
for  the  discipline  of  his  faculties,  and  in  some  measure  for  the  direc- 
tion of  his  subsequent  life. 

The  death  of  Witherspoon  nmrks  the  point  at  which  the  president 
loses  much  of  his  relative  prominence.  From  this  point  onward  the 
college  has  a  powerful  life  of  its  own.  Of  course  the  president  is 
always  the  great  figure  in  a  college,  but  the  i)residents  of  Princeton 
after  Witherspoon  are  far  less  prominent  than  the  institution;  and  the 
success  of  their  administrations  is  due  to  the  exaltation  of  the  college 
at  the  expense  of  activities  to  which  their  gifts  would  otherwise  have 
impelled  them.  Jonathan  Edwards  expected  to  find  in  the  presidency 
of  the  Princeton  College  of  his  day  an  opportunity  for  literary  activity, 
and  planned  to  compose  a  gieat  philosophy  of  history  with  the  title 
The  History  of  EedeniDtion;  but  James  ,McCosh,  though  always  indus- 
trious as  a  writer,  found  the  administrative  duties  of  his  position  so 
various  and  so  commanding  as  absolutely  to  forbid  the  composition  of 
volumes  like  those  which  had  given  him  distinction  before  he  came  to 
America. 

On  the  0th  day  of  May,  1795,  the  trustees  unanimously  elected  Dr. 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  Dr.  Witherspoou's  successor.  Dr.  Smith  had 
been  vice-president  since  1789,  and  had  relieved  the  president  of  many 
of  the  burdens  of  his  office.  He  accepted  at  once,  appeared  before  the 
board,  and  took  the  oath  of  office.  His  inauguration  Avas  postponed 
until  the  next  commencement,  the  30th  of  September  following,  when 
he  delivered  an  inaugural  address  in  the  Latin  language.  For  the  first 
time  the  salary  of  the  president  was  designated  in  the  coinage  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  fixed  at  81,500  a  year,  with  the  usual  perqui- 
sites. Tlie  new  president  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  son  of 
a  ])astor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Pequea.  His  mother  was  a  sis- 
ter of  Samuel  Blair,  the  head  of  the  academy  at  Faggs  Manor.  He 
was  the  first  alumnus  of  the  college  to  fill  the  presidency.  He  was 
graduated  in  17(!9,  and  as  the  first  scholar  of  his  class  pronounced  the 
Latin  salutatory.  A  year  after  his  graduation,  when  1*1  years  of  age, 
he  returned  to  Princeton  as  tutor  in  the  college,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
reading  divinity  under  Dr.  Withersjjoon.     He  taught  the  classics  and 


248  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

belles-lettres.  Here  he  remained  until  1773,  Trlieu  he  went  to  Virginia 
as  a  missionary.  The  interest  awakened  by  his  preaching  was  ,deep 
and  widespread.  "  Throughout  the  Middle  and  Southern  States,'"  says 
Dr.  Philip  Liudsley,  "he  was  regarded  as  a  most  eloquent  and  learned 
divine  by  his  contemporaries."  The  impression  made  by  him  as  a 
preacher  and  scholar  led  to  his  call  as  the  first  president  of  Hampden 
Sidney  College.  He  was  president  for  three  or  four  years,  when  the 
state  of  his  health  compelled  him  to  resign.  In  177U  he  was  invited,  to 
become  professor  of  moral  philosophy  at  Princeton,  and,  though  strongly 
attached  to  Virginia,  he  accepted,  and  from  this  time  on  labored  for  his 
alma  mater.  He  came  only  two  years  after  the  battle  of  Princeton. 
Dr.  Witherspoon  was  a  member  of  Congress,  and  a  large  amount  of 
administrative  work  fell  on  Professor  Smith.  This  work  was  done 
under  most  difficult  conditions,  for  he  was  never  strong,  and  on  several 
occasions  he  was  prostrated  by  hemorrhages  like  those  which  compelled 
him  to  retire  from  Hampden  Sidney.  Yet  he  neglected  no  work;  and 
his  learning  obtained  recognition  from  the  two  colleges  of  Xew  England 
and  from  learned  societies.  In  the  year  1785  he  was  made  an  honorary 
member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  and  delivered  its  anniver- 
sary oration,  an  address  intended  to  establish  the  unity  of  the  species. 
In  1780  he  was  engaged  with  other  eminent  ministers  of  the  church 
with  which  he  was  connected  in  preparing  its  form  of  government  with 
a  view  to  organizing  the  general  assembly. 

Dr.  Smith  was  anxious  to  extend  the  course  of  instruction  and  to 
enlarge  the  teaching  body.  Besides  himself  at  the  time  of  his  acces- 
sion to  the  presidency  Dr.  Minto  was  the  only  professor.  Dr.  Smith 
established  a  professorship  of  chemistry  the  year  of  his  accession  to 
the  presidency.  The  first  occupant  of  the  chair  was  John  Maclean,  a 
native  of  Glasgow  and  a  graduate  of  its  university.  When  he  had 
completed  his  medical  course  Dr.  Maclean  gave  special  attention  to 
chemistry,  studying  at  Edinburgh,  London,  and  Paris.  While  at  Paris 
he  adopted  new  theories,  not  only  in  chemistry,  but  in  government. 
He  became  a  republican  and  emigrated  to  the  United  States.  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  to  whom  he  brought  letters,  recommended 
him  to  settle  in  Princeton  and  i^ractice  his  profession.  Dr.  Rusli,  at 
the  same  time,  recommended  the  college  to  secure  his  services  as  a  lec- 
turer in  chemistry.  The  lectures  made  a  profound  impression.  In  1795 
he  was  elected  to  the  first  chair  of  chemistry  established  in  any  college 
in  the  United  States.  It  was  through  Di'.  Maclean  that  Princeton  Col- 
lege was  enabled  to  perform  a  valuable  service  for  Yale  College.  Ben- 
jamin Silliman,  the  first  professor  of  chemistry  in  Yale  College,  writes 
as  follows  in  his  diary : 

Brief  residence  in  Princeton.  At  this  celelirated  seat  of  learning  an  eminent  gen- 
tleman, Dr.  John  Maclean,  resided  as  professor  of  chemistry,  etc.  I  early  obtained 
an  introduction  to  him  by  correspondence,  and  he  favored  me  with  a  list  of  books 
for  the  promotion  of  my  studies.  I  also  passed  a  few  days  with  Dr.  Maclean  in  my 
different  transits  to  and  from  Philadelphia,  obtained  from  him  a  general  insight  into 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  2-49 

my  future  occupation,  inspected  bis  library  and  apparatus,  and  obtained  his  advice 
respecting  many  things.  Dr.  Maclean  was  a  man  of  brilliant  mind,  with  all  the 
acumen  of  his  native  Scotland,  and  a  sparkling  wit  gave  variety  to  his  conversation. 
I  regard  him  as  my  earliest  master  of  chemistry,  and  Princeton  as  my  first  starting 
point  in  that  pursuit,  althougli  I  had  not  an  opportunity  to  attend  any  lectures 
there. 

All  accounts  of  Professor  Maclean  show  that  the  adniiiation  ex- 
pressed for  him  by  Dr.  Sillimau  was  general.  Archibald  Alexander 
visited  Princeton  in  1801,  and  wrote  of  him  as  one  of  the  most  popular 
instructors  who  ever  graced  the  college.  "He  is  at  home,"  says  Dr. 
Alexander,  "almost  equally  in  all  branches  of  science.  Chemistry, 
natural  history,  mathematics,  and  natural  philosophy'  successfully  claim 
liis  attention."  For  a  period  of  seventeen  years  he  was  professor  in 
Princeton  College.  In  1812,  believing  that  a  milder  climate  would 
restore  his  health,  he  resigned  and  accepted  the  chair  of  natural  phi- 
losophy and  chemistry  at  William  and  Mary,  but  before  the  first  college 
year  closed  illness  compelled  him  to  resign.  He  returned  to  Princeton, 
and  died  in  1814. 

The  funds  of  the  college  and  its  buildings  suffered  greatly  during  the 
war  of  the  Ivevolutiou.  Its  library  was  scattered  and  its  philosophical 
apparatus  almost  entirely  destroyed.  The  trustees  appealed  to  the 
State  of  jSTew  Jersey  for  aid,  and  the  State  granted  £600  a  year,  proc- 
lamation money,  for  a  period  of  three  years,  the  use  of  the  money  being 
limited  to  the  repair  of  the  college  buildings,  the  restoration  of  the  col- 
lege library,  and  the  repair  and  purchase  of  philosophical  apparatus. 
This  appropriation  was  intended  simply  to  make  good  losses  which  the 
college  had  suffered  as  a  consequence  of  the  war,  and,  if  the  influence 
exerted  by  the  college  on  behalf  of  the  independence  of  the  colony  is 
considered,  it  must  be  regarded  rather  as  the  payment  of  a  debt  than 
as  a  gift.  Dr.  Minto,  the  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural  philos- 
ophy, died  in  1796.  The  college  was  too  poor  to  fill  his  place  with 
another  professor,  and  the  work  of  his  chair  was  taken  by  Professor 
Maclean.  The  reputation  which  Professor  Maclean  gave  to  the  college 
led  to  applications  on  the  part  of  students  who  desired  to  pursue  only 
the  scientific  part  of  the  college  curriculum.  These  applications  were 
granted  by  the  board,  and  a  resolution  was  passed  not  only  that  they 
should  be  permitted  to  read  on  scientific  subjects,  but  also  that  they 
should  receive  certificates  of  their  proficiency,  to  be  publicly  delivered 
to  them  on  the  day  of  commencement,  the  college  reserving  to  itself 
the  privilege  of  bestowing  honorary  degrees  on  those  who  have  highly 
distinguished  themselves  in  science  in  this  or  other  colleges. 

As  though  the  college  had  not  been  sufficiently  disciplined  by  its 
poverty  and  the  calamities  incident  to  the  war  for  Independence,  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1802,  Isassau  Hall,  except  the  outer  walls,  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  This  was  the  second  destruction  of  the  library  and  a  large 
part  of  the  philosophical  apparatus.  The  trustees  met  on  the  16th,  and 
at  once  determined  to  rebuild  upon  the  original  plan  of  the  college, 


2f)0  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

malviiig,  however,  a  few  alterations,  partly  with  a  view  to  security  from 
fire  and  partly  to  increase  the  room  devoted  to  instruction  and  philo- 
sophical apparatus.  An  address  was  issued  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  reciting  the  design  and  history  of  the  college  and  appealing  to 
the  friends  of  religion,  of  science,  and  of  civil  liberty  for  contributions 
for  the  rebuilding  of  the  hall  and  the  endowment  of  the  institution. 
Forty  thousand  dollars  were  subscribed.  In  1802  the  chair  of  lan- 
guages was  founded,  and  William  Thompson  '  was  chosen  its  jirofessor. 
In  1803  Dr.  Henry  Kollock,'  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1794,  was  elected 
professor  of  theology,  and  Andrew  Hunter,  also  an  alumnus,  professor 
of  mathematics  and  astronomy. 

A  report  from  the  faculty  to  the  board  describes  in  great  detail  the 
curriculum  at  this  time,  of  which  Dr.  Maclean  justly  says  that  no  one, 
after  reading  it,  can  fail  to  see  that  the  labors  of  the  president,  profes- 
sors, and  tutors  must  have  been  extremely  arduous,  and  that  the  course 
of  instruction  was  liberal  and  m  many  respects  would  compare  favora- 
bly with  that  of  the  college  at  a  much  later  date.  So  rapidly  did  the 
number  of  students  increase  that  in  1805  it  was  proposed  to  erect  an 
additional  building.  It  was  thought  that  a  wealthy  gentleman  inter- 
ested in  scientific  pursuits  would  aid  the  college,  but  his  offer  was  with- 
drawn, with  the  result  that  70  students  were  compelled  to  room  else- 
where than  in  Xassau  Hall.  How  rapid  this  increase  was  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  1806  o-l  members  of  the  senior  class  were 
admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  arts.  At  no  previous  period  in  its 
history  had  the  college  attained  an  equal  degree  of  ijrosperity  and  rep- 
utation. The  faculty  consisted  of  a  president,  four  professors,  three 
tutors,  and  an  instructor  in  French,  and  the  number  of  students  had 
risen  to  200.     Indeed,  the  number  of  students  was  almost  too  large  for 

'  William  Thompson,  iu  1802,  was  called  from  Dickiusou  College,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  had  been  professor  of  languages,  to  the  chair  with  the  same  title  in  Prince- 
ton. Dr.  Maclean  (Hist.,  Vol.  II,  p.  4.5)  says  of  him:  "He  had  the  reputation  of 
being  an  accurate  scholar,  a  good  teacher,  and  an  excellent  man.  He  was  advanced 
in  life  when  he  had  become  professor  iu  Princeton  College,  and  after  a  few  years,  his 
mind  giving  way  under  the  pressure  of  arduous  duties,  he  was  constrained  to  give 
up  his  position,  and  died  not  long  after." 

-Ileury  Kollock  was  born  at  New  Providence,  N.  J.,  December  14,  1778,  and  was 
graduated  at  Princeton,  1794;  in  1794  was  appointed  tutor,  with  John  Henry  Hobart, 
afterwards  Protestant  Episcopal  bishopof  New  York,  who  says  of  Kollock  :  "Although 
he  is  a  Democrat  and  a  Calvinist,  he  is  the  most  intelligent,  gentlemanly,  and  agree- 
able comiiauion  I  have  ever  found."  He  pursued  his  theological  studies  without  a 
preceptor,  and  "made  considerable  proficiency,"  says  Dr.  Caruahan,  "in  Hebrew, 
Chaldee,  and  Arabic."  His  teachers  in  theology  were  the  great  English  theologians, 
Anglican  and  Puritan.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  18n0,  and  soon  after  became 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Elizabethtown.  In  1803  be  returned  to  Princeton  as  pastor 
and  professor  of  theology.  In  180  i  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Independent  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Savannah.  He  died  December  29,  1809.  Dr.  Caniahau,  Bishop 
Caiiers,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  the  Hon.  John  M.  Berrien,  of  Georgia,  all 
speak  of  him  as  a  man  of  great  eloquence,  charming  iu  society,  and  excei)tiouaily 
faithful  and  acceptable  as  a  Christian  pastor.  Vide  Sprague's  Annals,  Vol.  IV,  i>p. 
273  et  seq.  , 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  251 

the  faculty.  Disturbances  occurred  which  compelled  that  body  to 
iuvoke  in  their  behalf  the  authority  of  the  trustees.  Commencement 
day  was  regarded  as  a  public  holiday  for  the  population  of  the  entire 
district  in  which  the  college  was  situated.  It  furnished  an  occasion  for 
other  than  academic  sports.  "Eating  and  drinking,  fiddling  and  danc- 
ing, playing  for  pennies,  and  testing  the  speed  of  their  horses  were  the 
amusements  in  which  no  small  numbers  of  those  assembled  on  such 
occasions  were  wont  to  indulge."  Just  because  of  the  college's  pros- 
perity discipline  was  difficult  to  exercise,  but  had  the  trustees  not  inter- 
fered with  the  faculty  it  is  probable  that  the  strife  arising  from  time  to 
time  between  the  students  and  their  instructors  would  have  been  easily 
composed. 

In  1810  and  1811  conferences  were  held  between  a  committee  of  the 
trustees  and  a  committee  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  on  the  subject  of  establishing  a  theological  seminary  for  that 
church.  The  intimate  relations  between  the  college  and  the  general 
assembly,  the  large  support  that  the  college  had  received  from  Presby- 
terians, and  the  benefits  which  in  return  it  had  conferred  upon  that 
communion  led  both  the  trustees  of  the  college  and  the  committee  of 
the  general  assembly  to  consider  seriously  the  question  of  affiliating 
the  theological  institution  so  closely  with  the  college  as  to  make  the 
two  institutions  one.  This  plan  was  soon  abandoned.  But  tlie  trus- 
tees and  the  committee  concurred  in  the  belief  that  the  seminary  might 
well  find  its  home  near  to  the  college;  and  an  agreement  was  made  by 
which  the  trustees  engaged  not  to  appoint  a  pr(^fessor  of  theology  in 
the  college  should  the  seminary  be  permanently  established  at  Prince- 
ton. The  college  retained  its  freedom,  and  the  seminary  was  estab- 
lished as  an  institution  of  the  general  assembly,  beginning  its  life  in 
1812.  While  the  immediate  effect  of  the  establishment  of  this  new 
institution  was  to  prevent  for  many  years  all  collection  of  funds  for  the 
improvement  of  the  college,  both  institutions  derived  substantial  advan- 
tages from  their  establishment  in  the  same  town,  and  from  their  warm 
friendship. 

Dr.  Smith  resigned  in  1812.  He  lived  seven  years  after  his  retirement. 
He  revised  and  published  some  of  his  works.  He  died  on  the  21st .of 
August,  1819,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age.  The  graduates  of  the 
college  during  his  administration  did  not,  as  a  class,  gain  the  distinction 
reached  by  those  graduated  under  his  predecessor ;  but  the  list  includes 
a  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  2  presidents  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  9  United  States  Senators,  25  Members  of  the  House  of  Eepre- 
sentatives,  4  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet,  o  ministers  to  foreign 
courts,  8  governors  of  States,  34  judges  and  chancellors,  and  21 
presidents  or  professors  of  colleges. 

Dr.  Ashbel  Green's  administration  of  the  college,  as  president  pro 
tempore,  soon  after  the  burning  of  Nassau  Hall,  in  1802,  was  so  suc- 
cessful that  upon  Dr.  Smith's  resignation  he  was  unanimously  chosen 
president.    When  elected  he  was  a  trustee.    He  was  an  alumnus.    His 


252  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

father,  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  was  one  of  tlie 
trustees  named  by  Governor  Belcber  in  the  second  charter;  his  gi;and- 
father,  the  Rev.  John  Pierson,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  was  one  of  the  pro- 
moters of  the  college  and  a  trustee  under  the  first  charter;  and  his 
great-grandfather,  Abraham  Pierson,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  Yale,  and  its  first  president  and  rector.  His  father 
had  acted  as  president  of  the  college,  with  the  title  of  vice-president, 
during  the  period  intervening  between  the  death  of  Jonathan  Edwards 
and  the  election  of  Samuel  Davies.  Ashbel  Green  was  born  at  Han- 
over, in  Morris  County,  X.  J.,  in  17C2.  He  was  graduated  at  the  col- 
lege in  1793,  and  delivered  the  valedictory  oration.  Immediately  after 
graduation  he  was  appointed  tutor;  and  two  years  afterwards  was 
elected  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy.  After  hold- 
ing his  professorship  for  a  year  and  a  half,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia.  In  this  position  he  had 
from  the  beginning  an  eminent  career.  His  fine  presence,  courtly  man- 
ners, and  prominent  family  connections  made  him  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Philadelphia.  As  Philadelphia  was  the  national  capital,  he  was 
brought  into  intimate  contact  with  some  of  the  most  eminent  men  of 
the  country.  His  autobiography  is  one  of  the  interesting  personal  rec- 
ords of  the  period.  He  had  scarcely  been  settled  in  Philadelphia  when 
the  work  of  reorganizing  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  now  inde- 
pendent United  States  was  begun.  This  work  was  contemporaneous 
with  the  formation  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Young  as  he  was,  no 
minister  of  the  church,  not  even  Dr.  Witherspoon,  was  more  influential 
in  this  important  and  difficult  work.  From  the  first  he  was  in  favor  of 
the  separation- of  church  and  state,  and  strongly  advised  those  changes 
in  the  Scotch  Confession  of  Faith  which  placed  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  this  countrj-  specifically  on  the  platform  of  the  widest  reli- 
gious liberty. 

He  was  a  high  Calvinist  and  a  strong  Presbyterian,  active  in  the 
church's  judicatories  and  deeply  interested  in  the  organization  of  its 
missionary  work.  He  was  elected  chaplain  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  in  1792,  with  Bishop  White,  and  was  reelected  by  every 
successive  Congress  until,  in  1800,  the  capital  was  changed  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Washington.  During  his  pastorate  in  Philadelphia  he  made 
two  extended  journeys,  one  to  Xew  England  and  the  other  to  Virginia, 
and  was  received  in  both  sections  of  the  country  as  a  man  of  eminence. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  theological  education;  was  one  of  the 
original  committee  of  the  general  assembly  to  organize  a  theological 
seminary,  and  was  the  author  of  the  plan  for  a  theological  institution 
which  the  assembly  adopted  and  to  which  it  gave  effect  in  the  institu- 
tion at  Princeton.  He  was  president  of  its  board  of  directors  from  the 
beginning  until  his  death  in  1848;  and  when,  in  1824,  the  trustees  of 
the  theological  seminary  were  incorporated,  he  was  made  one  of  them, 
and  continued  a  trustee  the  remainder  of  his  life.    At  the  time  of  his 


PHINCETON    UNIA^ERSITY.  253 

election  to  the  presidency  of  Princeton  College  he  was  the  best-known 
and  probably  the  most  intlueiitial  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  1812,  after  having  been  a  pastor  for  more 
than  twenty-live  years,  he  left  Philadelphia  for  Princeton  and  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  the  college  presidency.  The  trustees  associated  with 
him  Mr.  Elijah  Slack,  vice-president  of  the  college  and  professor  of 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophy,  and  chose  two  tutors.  Soon  after, 
Mr.  Lindsley  was  elected  professor  of  languages.  During  the  tirst  year 
of  Dr.  Green's  administration  these  gentlemen  constituted  the  faculty. 

The  period  was  one  of  great  excitement  throughout  the  country.  It 
was  the  year  of  the  beginning  of  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain. 
The  excitement  of  the  nation  was  reflected  in  the  life  of  the  college. 
Discipline  was  difficult.  Soon  after  Dr.  Green's  induction  disturbances 
became  so  serious  as  almost  to  threaten  a  general  rebellion.  The  con- 
duct of  the  faculty,  and  of  Dr.  Green,  especially,  in  the  suppression  of 
the  disturbances  and  in  disciplining  the  offenders  was  eminently  wise; 
certainly  it  was  so  regarded  by  the  trustees.  The  latter  body  put  on 
record  its  opinion  that  the  faculty  manifested  a  degree  of  prudence, 
vigilance,  fidelity,  and  energy  that  deserved  the  warmest  thanks  of 
every  friend  of  the  college.  The  succeeding  year  was  passed  not  only 
without  any  recurrence  of  the  difficulties,  but  with  good  order  and  a 
profound  religious  movement.  This  was  true  also  of  the  year  1815. 
But  the  college  year  of  1816-17  proved  "  to  be  the  most  turbulent  year 
of  Dr.  Green's  administration."  It  was  the  year  of  the  great  rebellion, 
and  was  ended  with  the  dismission  of  a  large  number  of  students. 
The  action  of  the  trustees,  or  the  remarks  of  some  of  them,  following 
the  rebellion,  the  vice-president  of  the  college  interpreted  as  a  reflection 
on  himself,  and  he  resigned.  Dr.  Slack  was  a  man  of  ability,  and, 
indeed,  of  eminence  in  the  departments  under  his  charge,  and  Dr.  Mac- 
lean, who  knew  him,  pays  a  high  tribute  to  his  character,  his  fidelity, 
and  ability.  The  vacancy  caused  by  his  resignation  was  filled  by  the 
election  of  Prof.  Henry  Vethake,  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  Eutgers 
College.  lii  1818  a  chair  was  added  with  the  title  of  experimental 
philosophy,  chemistry,  and  natural  history.  Dr.  Jacob  Green,  son  of 
the  president  and  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
elected  and  filled  it  with  ability  until  his  father's  resignation. 

Meanwhile,  as  the  college  was  increasing  in  numbers,  the  trustees 
proposed  to  build  a  new  edifice  and  to  place  its  students  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  an  entirely  different  faculty  so  soon  as  the  number  of 
students  should  render  it  expedient  to  do  so.  A  site  was  not  selected, 
but  a  committee  was  appointed  to  seek  one  within  the  limits  of  the 
village,  and  resolutions  looking  to  the  endowment  of  this  new  college 
were  passed.  The  plan  failed.  Had  this  succeeded,  it  is  probable  that 
Princeton  University  to  day  would  have  been  a  collection  of  small  col- 
leges under  one  corporation.  In  1819  the  qualifications  for  admission 
were  made  more  severe,  but  the  regulations  could  not  be  enforced  owing 


254  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

to  the  inefficiency  of  the  preparatory  schools  on  which  the  college 
depended  for  students.  The  subject  of  discipline  was  oftener  before 
the  trustees  during  this  administration  than  during  any  other,  and  in 
a  resolution  the  relation  of  the  faculty  to  the  students  was  fixed.  Dr. 
Green's  health  compelled  him  to  resign  in  1822.  IsTo  one  of  his  prede- 
cessors had  before  him  more  difficult  problems  connected  with  the 
interior  life  of  the  college.  These  he  solved  with  great  wisdom  and 
conscientiousness.  The  trustees  received  his  letter  of  resignation  with 
deep  regret.  When  they  accepted  it  they  addressed  him  a  letter  in 
which  they  said: 

In  accepting  your  resignation  tbey  can  not  withhold  the  expression  of  their  highest 
respect  for  your  ministerial  character,  your  general  influence  in  the  church  of  God, 
your  uniform  and  unwearied  exertions  to  promote  the  liest  interests  of  the  students 
under  your  care  both  for  time  antl  eternity.  Under  your  auspices  the  college  has 
not  only  been  extricated  from  its  financial  difficulties,  but  it  has  secured  a  ])ermaneut 
source  of  increasing  income,  while  it  has  sent  forth  a  nuniljer  of  students  not 
exceeded  in  former  times,  calculated  to  give  stability  to  its  reputation,  a  pledge  for 
the  continnauce  and  the  growth  of  its  usefulness  to  the  church  and  state. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  presidency  he  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  had  been  so  eminent  and  successful  as  a  pastor,  and  lived  for 
twenty-two  years  a  life  of  great  activity  and  usefulness.  He  was 
influential  in  the  missionary  work  and  in  the  judicatories  of  the  church. 
He  was  eminent  as  a  citizen  and  a  churchman.  He  was  most  deeply 
interested  in  the  religious  life  of  the  students  while  connected  with  the 
college.  He  was  strongly  attached  to  the  church  in  which  he  had  been 
born,  and  which  he  had  done  so  much  to  organize  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  Probably  he  was  at  his  best  when  addressing  a  deliber- 
ative body,  or  acting  as  a  councilor  upon  a  committee.  In  these  two 
positions  he  was  unexcelled,  and  it  was  his  eminence  and  reputation 
as  a  counselor  and  legislative  speaker  that  led  his  successor.  Dr.  Car- 
nahan,  to  say  at  his  burial,  "  By  his  talents  he  was  fitted  to  fill  any 
civil  situation,  and  by  his  eloquence  to  adorn  the  halls  of  our  National 
Legislature."  He  died  when  85  years  of  age,  in  the  year  1848,  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  was  buried  at  Princeton  in  the  cemetery  where  his  pre- 
decessors were  at  rest. 

After  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Green  the  trustees  elected  as  president 
Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  of  Richmond,  Va.  Dr.  Rice  was  the  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  that  place,  an  eloquent  and  widely  popular 
preacher,  an  influential  writer  on  ecclesiastical  and  theological  subjects, 
and  deeply  interested  in  collegiate  and  theological  education.  Owing 
to  the  severe  illness  with  which  he  was  suffering  at  the  time  of  his 
election,  and  which  continued  for  several  months,  he  was  unable  to 
respond  to  the  invitation  until  the  14th  of  March,  1823.  In  a  letter  of 
that  date  he  declined  the  position,  believing  that  he  was  called  to 
labor  in  the  South;  and  not  long  afterwards  he  accepted  a  call  to  the 
chair  of  systematic  theology  in  the  theological  seminary  at  Hampden 
Sidney,  Va.     The  trustees  appointed  Professor  Lindsley  to  the  vice- 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  255 

presidency,  and  })ut  upon  him  the  daries  of  the  higher  office  until  the 
president-elect's  arrival  in  Princeton.  Mr.  John  Maclean  was  made 
teacher  of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy.  Professor  Lindsley, 
Mr.  Maclean,  and  two  tutors  constituted  the  faculty,  and  about  80 
students  were  in  residence.  On  receiving  Dr.  Rice's  declinature,  the 
trustees  at  once  elected  Vice-President  Lindsley  to  the  presidency ;  but 
Dr.  Lindsley  decliued,  probably  because  the  election  was  not  unanimous. 
The  board  then  chose  the  Rev.  James  Carnahau,  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and,  at  the  time  of  his  election,  48  years  of  age.  Through  both 
father  and  mother  he  was  descended  from  Scoth-Irish  Presbyterians 
who  had  settled  in  the  Cumberland  Valley.  His  father  had  been  an 
officer  of  the  army  of  the  colonies  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Mr. 
Carnahau  was  graduated  at  Princeton  in  1800  with  high  honor.  After 
a  year's  theological  study  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  McMillan  at 
Canuonsburg,  Pa.,  he  returned  to  Princeton,  and  was  for  two  years  a 
tutor  in  the  college.  Although  earnestly  pressed  to  remain,  he  resigned 
in  1803.  He  labored  first  as  a  pastor,  largely  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  afterwards  as  a  teacher.  For  eleven  years  preceding  his 
election  he  taught  with  great  success  an  academy  at  Georgetown,  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  He  was  highly  esteemed  throughout  the 
communion  of  which  he  was  a  minister  as  a  man  of  excellent  judgment 
and  absolute  devotion  to  whatever  work  he  gave  himself. 

The  condition  of  the  college  was  such  as  to  make  the  office  of  presi- 
dent anything  but  inviting.  The  students  were  few.  The  income  was 
small.  There  was  almost  no  endowment.  Repeated  efforts  had  been 
made  to  increase  the  permanent  funds,  but  it  appeared  impossible  to 
excite  any  general  interest  in  its  welfare.  There  were  conflicting  views 
within  the  board  of  trustees  as  to  the  general  policy  of  the  college,  and 
the  personal  relations  between  some  of  the  members  of  the  board  were 
severely  strained.  Happily,  Dr.  Carnahau  was  unaware  of  the  whole 
truth  when  the  office  was  tendered  to  him.  Had  he  known  all  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  declined.  Indeed,  so  depressed  was  he  by  these 
difficulties  that  not  long  after  his  acceptance  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
abandon  the  office,  and  he  finally  retained  his  place  only  because  of 
the  earnest  ijleadings  of  his  young  colleague.  Professor  Maclean. 

Notwithstanding  these  exceptional  burdens  and  perplexities,  his 
administration  after  a  few  years  became  and  continued  to  be  singularly 
successful.  The  number  of  students  was  largely  increased.  The  cur- 
riculum was  enriched.  The  faculty  was  enlarged  by  the  foundation  of 
new  chairs  and  by  the  election  of  professors,  some  of  whom  became 
eminent  in  their  respective  departments  and  whose  memories  are 
to-day  among  the  most  highly  valued  possessions  of  the  university. 
The  general  catalogue  contains  the  names  of  30  professors  who  were 
elected  during  Dr.  Caruahan's  presidency.  Among  them  are  several  of 
the  most  distinguished  names  in  the  annals  of  American  science  and 
letters.     The  discipline  of  the  college,  though  lenient,  was  firmly  and 


256  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

equitably  administered,  and  the  iutluenee  exerted  by  the  college  on  the 
students  during  their  residence  had  never  before  been  stronger  pr  more 
beneficent. 

The  success  of  Dr.  Carnahau  was  due  in  ])art  'o  his  calm  tempera- 
ment, the  fine  balance  of  his  faculties,  his  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
college,  and  his  patience  under  adverse  conditions;  partly  to  the  liberty 
of  action  granted  by  him  to  his  younger  colleagues  in  the  faculty,  and 
largely  to  the  remarkable  enthusiasm,  energy,  and  intelligence  of  the 
senior  professor,  John  Maclean,  who,  in  1829,  when  not  yet  30  years  of 
age,  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  college.  Those  who  remember 
Dr.  Maclean  only  in  his  later  years  will  have  difiQculty  in  bringing 
before  them  the  man  wlio,  as  vice-president,  shared  with  Dr.  Carnahan 
the  duty  of  determining  the  general  i)olicy  of  the  college,  and  of  taking 
the  initiative  in  the  election  of  professors  for  chairs  already  established, 
in  founding  new  chairs,  in  enlarging  the  number  of  students,  and  in 
settling  the  principles  of  college  discipline.  He  was  a  man  of  quick 
intelligence,  able  to  turn  himself  to  almost  any  teaching  work,  always 
ready  to  change  his  work  or  to  add  to  it,  and  always  willing  to  accept 
a  reduction  of  income.  He  was  especially  vigilant  in  looking  out  for 
new  and  additional  teachers,  but  at  all  points  he  was  alert,  and  his  one 
ambition  was  the  prosperity  of  the  college.  Between  Dr.  Carnahan 
and  Dr.  Maclean  there  existed,  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the 
former's  administration,  a  warm  and  intimate  friendship.  Each  was 
l)erfectly  frank  with  the  other;  each  highly  valued  the  other;  each 
finely  supplemented  the  other,  and  each  was  ready  to  efface  himself  or 
to  work  to  the  point  of  exhaustion  in  the  interests  of  the  institution. 
It  is  but  justice  to  the  memory  of  both  of  them  to  say  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  Dr.  Carnahan,  especially  from  1829  until  his  resignation  in 
1854,  was  a  collegiate  administration,  in  which  the  two  colleagues 
labored  as  one  man,  the  distinctive  gifts  of  each  making  more  valuable 
those  of  both. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Carnahan's  election  the  college  lost  the  services  of 
Vice-President  Lindsley,  who,  as  professor  of  languages,  had  done 
much  to  give  the  college  fame.  He  was  popular  both  in  the  college 
and  beyond  it,  and  his  popularity  was  deserved.  He  was  invited  to 
many  positions  of  prominence  in  educational  institutions,  both  before 
and  after  he  left  Princeton  in  order  to  become  president  of  Cumberland 
College,  in  Tennessee.  He  was  high  spirited  and  unduly  sensitive, 
not  only  faithful  to  duty,  but  enthusiastic;  and  as  a  teacher  "one  of 
the  best,"  says  Dr.  Maclean,  '•  of  whom  I  have  any  knowledge." 

When  Dr.  Lindsley  retired,  the  smallness  of  the  faculty  compelled 
each  of  the  remaining  members  to  do  an  extraordinary  amount  of  teach- 
ing as  well  as  administrative  work,  and  it  became  evident  that  the 
faculty  must  immediately  be  enlarged.  The  liev.  Luther  Halsey  was 
made  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  history,  and  his  acceptance 
gave  some  relief  to  his  elder  colleagues.     The  change  in  administration 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  257 

made  discipliue  difficult,  and  the  faculty  appear  to  liave  beguu  Dr. 
Caruahau's  administration  by  making  one  or  two  serious  mistakes,  and 
thus  to  liave  been  resi)onsible  for  an  exodus  of  students  to  Union  Col- 
lege. One  was  that  of  invoking  the  civil  authorities  to  aid  the  college 
in  inflicting  punishment  in  a  case  in  which  college  discipline  ought  to 
have  been  regarded  as  sufficient.  The  faculty  voted,  against  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  president  and  vice-president,  that  the  offenders  should  be 
handed  over  to  the  secular  arm.  These  mistakes  were  not  repeated. 
In  182G  the  tirst  young  men's  Christian  association  connected  with 
any  college  in  the  United  States  was  organized  in  Princeton  under  the 
name  of  "  The  Philadelphian  Society,"  and  from  that  time  to  the  present 
it  has  continued  the  central  organization  of  the  students  for  religious 
work.  The  same  year  at  commencement  the  tirst  Alumni  Association 
of  Nassau  Hall  was  formed,  with  James  Madison,  of  Virginia,  as  presi- 
dent, and  John  Maclean  as  secretary. 

The  college  continued  a  small  institution  until  1828  or  1829,  when  the 
policy  of  increasing  the  professors  began  to  be  energetically  prosecuted. 
In  this  policy  is  to  be  found  the  chief  cause  of  the  success  of  Dr.  Car- 
uahau's aduiinistration.  In  1829  Prof.  Robert  B.  Patton,  the  successor 
of  Dr.  Lindsley  as  i)rofessor  of  languages,  lesigned.  His  resignation 
was  a  great  loss  to  the  college.  He  was  so  able  a  teacher  as  fully 
to  have  maintained  the  reputation  which  the  college  had  secured  for 
instruction  in  language  during  Dr.  Lindsley's  life  in  that  chair.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  the  board  of  trustees,  in  1830,  took  the  bold  step  of 
appointing  six  new  professors,  transferring,  in  order  to  do  so.  Professor 
Maclean  to  the  chair  of  anciinit  languages  and  literature.  Prof.  Albert 
B.  Dod  was  given  the  chair  of  mathematics;  Professor  Vethake,  who 
had  expressed  a  wish  to  return  to  Princeton,  the  chair  of  natural  pliilos 
ophy;  John  Torrey  '  was  made  the  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural 
history;  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Howell  was  called  to  the  chair  of  anatomy  and 
physiology;  Mr.  Lewis  Hargous  was  made  professor  of  modern  lan- 
guages, and  Mr.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander^  was  appointed  adjunct- 

'  John  Torrey,  M.  D.,  LL.  D,,  was  boru  in  New  York  August  15,  1796,  studied  medi- 
cine and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  his  native  city.  He  was  professor  of  chemistry 
at  Princeton  from  1830  to  1854.  His  fame  rests  chietiy  on  his  contributions  to  botany. 
His  active  labors  in  this  department  were  begun  in  1815  and  continued  to  tlie  close 
of  his  active  life.  His  student  and  associates  in  labor  au<l  especially  in  the  i)ublica- 
tion  of  the  Flora  of  North  America,  1838-1843,  Asa  Gray,  afterwards  of  Harvard,  has 
written  a  sketch  of  his  life,  published  in  the  Biographical  Memoirs  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Wadhiugton,  1877.  On  his  retirement  from  Princeton  he  rec- 
ommended as  his  successor  his  pupil,  Dr.  J.  S.  Schanck,  U^.  I).,  now  emeritus  pro- 
fessor  of  chemistry. 

-Joseph  Addison  Alexander,  I).  U.,  was  born  at  Princeton  April  24,  1809.  He  was 
graduated  with  the  first  honor  of  his  class  in  1826.  After  his  resignat  ion  of  his  chair 
in  the  college  he  was  elected  associate  professor  of  oriental  and  biblical  literature  in 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  In  1840  he  was  elected  professor;  in  1851  he  was 
transferred  to  the  chair  of  biblical  and  ecclesiastical  history,  and  in  1859  to  the 
chair  of  Hellenistic  and  New  Testament  literature.  He  died  in  1860.  His  power  of 
20687— No.  23 17 


258  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

professor  of  aucieut  languages  and  literature.  No  braver  step  was 
ever  taken  by  an  American  college.  It  was  soon  justified  by  a  large 
increase  in  the  number  of  students.  While  the  whole  college  batl 
numbered  up  to  this  time  less  than  100,  in  1830  and  1831  67  new 
students  were  received.  The  next  year  tbere  were  139  in  the  college, 
and  the  number  rose,  roughly  speaking,  year  after  year,  until  the 
beginning  of  the  civil  vrar.  The  most  remarkable  increase  is  that  iu 
the  decade  between  1829  and  1839.  In  1829  there  were  but  70  stu- 
dents, while  in  1839  there  were  270.  The  election  of  the  six  professors 
just  named  was  only  the  initiation  of  a  policy  that  was  faithfully  exe- 
cuted during  the  whole  of  the  administration.  Two  years  later  the 
college  secured  the  services  of  Joseph  Henry,  whose  exceptional  great- 
ness as  a  man  of  science  gave  celebrity  to  the  institution,  and  whose 
transparent  goodness  endeared  him  to  both  colleagues  and  students. 
In  1833  James  Waddell  Alexander'  was  elected  professor  of  belles- 
lettres.  In  1831,  Stephen  Alexander^  was  added  to  the  faculty.  In- 
deed, it  may  be  said  that  the  catalogue  of  professors,  beginning  in 

rapidly  acquiring  knowledge  and  his  extraordinary  memory  enabled  him  to  read  in 
twenty-five  or  more  languages.  His  interest  in  them  was  rather  literarj^  than  philo- 
logical. His  wide  cultivation,  his  fine  gifts  of  expression,  and  his  enthusiasm  in 
scholarship  and  literature  made  him  a  brilliant  and  stimulating  lecturer  in  every 
department  conducted  by  him.  His  essays,  sermons,  and  commentaries  show  him  to 
have  been  an  exact  scholar  as  well  as  a  man  of  letters.  His  published  works  are 
many  and  valuable.  All  of  them  show  remarkable  talents,  and  some  of  them  genius ; 
but  they  do  not  fairly  exhibit  either  the  high  quality  of  his  intellect  or  his  fertility. 
All  were  written  rapidly,  as  though  he  were  impatient  to  jjursue  another  of  the 
many  subjects  to  which  his  large  and  various  knowledge  invited  him.  Few  Ameri- 
cans enjoyed  as  thoroughly  as  he  did  a  scholar's  life,  and  very  few  have  brought 
into  tlie  lecture  room  so  much  of  inspiration  for  their  students.  He  was  thought  to 
be  the  most  gifted  member  of  a  singulai'ly  able  family.  He  was  a  man  of  line  sin- 
cerity of  character;  a  devout,  humble,  and  believing  Christiau. 

'  .James  Waddell  Alexander,  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Archibald  Alexander,  was  born 
March  13,  1804;  graduated  at  Princeton  College  1820  and  studied  at  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary.  Besides  being  professor  in  the  college,  1833-1844,  he  was 
professor  in  the  theological  seminary,  1844-1851;  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  1828-1830;  editor  of  the  Presbyterian  at  an  earlier  date,  and 
finally  pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York,  from  1851  until 
his  death  in  18.59.  He  was  a  gifted  and  cultivated  man.  He  reail  widely,  reflected 
deeply,  and  wrote  charmingly  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  frequent  and  liighly  valued  contributors  to  the  Princeton  Review,  from  its 
establishment  until  his  death.  His  love  of  letters  was  a  passion  only  less  command- 
ing in  its  influence  on  himself  than  his  religion.  Upon  all  his  students  and  parish- 
ioners a  deep  imjiression  was  made  by  his  ability,  cultivation,  refinement,  and 
<devated  character.  These  traits  appear  also  in  his  letters,  as  in  all  his  ]Miblished 
writings.  The  strength  and  beauty  of  his  features,  his  engaging  social  qualities, 
his  intellectual  life,  and  his  purity  and  unselfishness  enabled  him,  iu  whatever 
position,  to  exert  a  stronger  influence  on  individual  men  than  most  men  in  the 
circles  in  which  he  moved.  He  was  an  example  of  the  highest  type  of  Christian 
preacher  and  pastor  produced  by  the  American  Church. 

-  Stephen  Alexander  was  born  in  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  September  1,  1806.  He  was 
graduated  at  Union  College  in  1824,  and  studied  theology  for  two  years  at  Princeton 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  259 

1830  with  the  name  of  Albert  B.  Dod  and  dosing-  in  1854  with  Arnold 
Guyot,^  and  covering  the  years  of  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration, 
needs  only  to  be  examined  to  justify  the  statement  that  no  policy  was 
ever  more  brilliantlj^  carried  out  than  the  policy  initiated  by  Br.  Carua- 
han  and  Dr.  Maclean  of  increasing  the  chairs  and  seeking  men  to  fill 


Theological  Seminary.  In  1833  he  was  appointed  a  tutor  in  Princeton  College  and 
continued  a  member  of  the  faculty  until  his  death  in  1883.  In  1840  he  was  elected 
professor  of  astronomy,  the  department  in  which  he  became  eminent.  His  contri- 
butions to  science  are  recorded  in  a  memoir  read  before  the  National  Academy,  April 
17,  1884,  by  his  successor  in  the  chair  of  astronomy,  Dr.  C.  A.  Yonng,  who  says: 
"His  native  ability  wa.s  of  a  high  order,  and  his  intiuence  on  his  pupils  by  his 
instructions  and  upon  the  general  community  by  liis  various  discourses  and  l>y  his 
pulilished  works  and  observations,  has  contributed  powerfully  and  eliectually  to 
the  progress  of  his  favorite  science."  Ot  his  general  culture  Dr.  Young  says:  "As 
a  scholar  Professor  Alexander  was  unusually  broau  and  versatile.  He  was  an  excel- 
lent linguist,  familiar  with  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  with  the  principal  Euro- 
pean lauguages,  all  of  which  he  read  aud  several  of  which,  I  believe,  he  wrote  and 
spoke  with  facility.  He  was  fond  of  general  literature.  He  was  an  ardent  lover  of 
metaphysics,  <>f  philosophy  and  of  theology.  He  was  familiar  not  only  with  the  ordi- 
nary range  of  mathematical  reading,  but  with  many  works  of  higher  order.  To  an 
extent  unusual  in  his  time,  he  also  kept  up  with  the  current  astronomical  literature 
by  means  of  foreign  journals,  which  were  theu  not  easy  to  obtain  in  this  country." 
"He  was  through  and  through  religious,"  Dr.  Yonng  says,  "in  his  belief,  in  his 
feelings,  and  in  his  life,  and  in  everything  he  said  and  did  his  Christian  faith  shone 
out." 

'  Arnold  Guyot,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D.,  was  born  at  Neuchatel,  Switzerland,  on  Septem- 
ber 28,  1807.  He  became  professor  of  geology  and  physical  geography  in  Princeton 
College  in  1854,  and  died  in  Princeton  on  February  8,  1884.  The  notable  career 
of  science  in  this  country  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  begun  at  the  time,  when,  by 
reason  of  political  difficulties  at  home,  the  three  Swiss  scientists  of  Neuchatel  were 
forced  to  seek  an  asylum  among  us.  The  lives  of  Agassiz,  Guyot,  and  Lesquereux 
had  been  begun  in  that  mountain  laud  intended  for  freemen,  and  could  not  be 
snufled  out  by  petty  party  oppression.  They  sought  another  field  and  rose  to  their 
full  power  in  this  their  adopted  country.  The  impetus  aud  the  molding  influence 
which  these  men  exerted  upon  the  thought  of  their  day  can  not  be  overestimated; 
nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  this  land  was  in  need  of  just  such  an  impulse  as 
their  coming  gave.  All  of  them  were  generalizers  of  a  high  order,  and  two  of 
them  became  teachers,  thus  putting  their  powers  to  the  best  practical  use.  Science 
needed  such  men  at  that  time,  and  mankind  in  general,  as  well  as  the  scientific 
world,  gave  them  all  the  more  attention  because  of  their  grasp  of  the  facts  known 
in  their  day  and  the  far-reaching  interrelations  of  those  facts.  Science  needs 
such  men  to-day,  but  with  the  ever  widening  field  of  view  and  the  more  intense 
specialization,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  synthetic  philosopher  in  science  is  becom- 
ing a  more  difficult  man  to  secure.  Of  the  connection  of  Guyot  with  Princeton 
aud  its  meaning  to  us,  the  main  facts  are  well  known.  To  his  ability  as  a  teacher 
and  his  capacity  of  making  a  subject  clear,  and  to  his  breadth  of  view  and  the 
lucidity  of  his  mind,  his  pupils  through  over  thirty  years  bear  most  hearty  tes- 
timony. But  his  influence  did  not  terminate  in  the  class  room  or  the  study.  His 
books  reached  the  teachers  of  the  land,  and  his  methods,  adopted  with  much  inter- 
est and  zeal,  served  to  reform  geographical  teaching  on  tliis  continent.  His  phil- 
osophic insight  into  the  laws  of  nature  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  causes  of  many 
phenomena  in  the  realm  of  glacial  motion,  and  through  his  cooperation  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  developed  a  system  of  regular  meteorological  observations  which 
has  grown  into  our  present  Signal  Service. — MS.  of  Prof  William  Libbey. 


260  HISTOKY    OF    EDUCATION    IN   NEW    JERSEY. 

them  without  waiting  for  an  endowment.  What  a  remarkable  addi- 
tion in  j)oint  of  numbers  there  was  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  insti- 
tution while  Dr.  Carnahan  was  president  will  be  seen  from  the  fact 
that  during  the  whole  life  of  the  college  up  to  his  presidency  only 
14  professors  had  been  appointed,  while  during  his  administration 
alone  there  were  30.  Of  course,  some  i^lans  were  adopted  which  failed. 
As  early  as  1834,  a  year  in  which  other  additions  to  the  faculty  were 
made,  as  that  of  Professor  Hart'  to  the  department  of  languages,  it  was 
seriously  attempted  to  establish  a  summer  school  of  medicine.    The 

'John  Seely  Hart,  LL.  D.,  was  born  in  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  January  28,  1810. 
Graduating  at  Princeton  College  in  1830,  he  taught  a  year  in  Natchez,  Miss.,  and 
returned  to  Princeton  in  1832  as  tutor  of  the  classics,  becoming,  in  1834,  adjunct 
professor  in  the  same  department;  principal  of  P^dgehill  School  at  Princeton,  1836- 
1841;  of  the  Philadelphia  High  School,  1842-1859;  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Normal 
School  at  Trenton,  1863-1871 ;  he  was  chosen  professor  of  rhetoric  and  the  English 
language  at  Princeton  in  1872,  having,  during  his  residence  at  Trenton,  given  yearly 
lectures  at  Princeton,  1864-1870,  on  "  English  philology  and  letters."  Eesigning 
his  professorship  in  1874,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  busily  engaging  in  literary 
and  especially  Shakespearean  studies  to  the  time  of  h  s  death,  March  26,  1877. 
His  untiring  industry  may  best  be  seen  from  the  number  and  character  of  his  pub- 
lished works,  appearing,  as  they  did,  at  comparatively  brief  intervals,  for  a  con- 
tinuous period  of  thirty  years.  In  1844  he  edited  the  Pennsylvania  Common  School 
Journal  and  in  1849-1851  Sartain's  Magazine.  Founding  the  Sunday  School  Times 
in  1859,  he  edited  it  till  1871.  He  published  the  Reports  of  the  Philadelphia  High 
School,  1842-18.59,  and  in  1844  a  Classbook  of  Poetry  and  a  Classbook  of  Prose.  In 
1847  there  appeared  his  Essay  on  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Spenser.  In  1868,  In  the 
Schoolroom  was  issued:  in  1870,  his  Manual  of  Composition  and  Rhetoric;  in  1872, 
his  Manual  of  English  Literature;  in  1873,  his  Manual  of  American  Literature,  and 
in  1874,  his  Short  Course  in  English  and  American  Literature.  In  such  a  list  of 
books  as  this  Dr.  Hart's  versatility  is  clearly  seen,  while  special  emphasis  should  be 
laid  upon  the  fact  tliat  few,  if  any,  authors  of  his  time  were  more  conscientiously 
and  zealously  devoted  to  the  cause  of  education  in  America,  having  given,  as  he  did, 
over  forty  years  of  his  active  life  to  strictly  educational  work.  This  was,  in  fact, 
his  vocation,  and  he  worthily  fulfilled  it,  both  within  the  sphere  of  secondary  and 
higher  learning.  As  editor,  professor,  and  author  he  aimed  to  raise  the  standard  of 
the  day  in  American  schools  and  colleges,  and  especially  to  advance  the  study  of 
English  as  a  language  and  a  literature.  It  is  to  the  lasting  credit  of  Professor  Hart 
that  when  instruction  in  English  was  lamentably  deticient  in  our  best  institutions 
he  insisted  that  it  should  be  given  a  larger  place  and  command  a  better  grade  of 
teaching  talent.  To  this  high  end  he  taught  and  labored  and  prepared  his  several 
educational  manuals  within  the  specific  department  of  English.  The  fact  that  these 
manuals  are  now  superseded  by  modern  test-books  in  keeping  with  the  newer  needs 
of  the  age  is  in  no  sense  a  proof  that  in  their  place  and  way  they  did  not  meet  an 
existing  educational  demand  and  point  the  path  to  still  better  agencies  and  results. 
Dr.  Hart  was  in  no  sense  a  great  educator,  as  was  Thomas  Arnold,  of  Rugby,  or  as 
Wayland  and  Hopkins,  of  America,  were.  He  was,  however,  a  patient,  painstaking, 
and  helpful  guide  to  students.  He  was  in  no  sense  an  original  and  wide-minded 
author  or  investigator.  He  was,  however,  a  discriminating  collator  of  facts  and  data 
and  did  invaluable  work  for  those  who  were  to  follow  him,  nor  did  he  ever  forget 
in  his  educational  efforts  the  higher  demands  of  character  and  conscience.  In  the 
developing  educational  progress  of  the  country  he  had  an  honorable  place  and  did  a 
worthy  work,  and  must  injustice  be  named  among  those  who  have  made  valid  con 
tributions  to  the  cause  of  sound  learning.     (MS.  of  Prof.  T.  W.  Hunt.) 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  261 

design  was  given  up,  owing  to  the  death  of  the  i^rofessor  of  anatomy 
and  physiology,  and  was  never  revived.  In  18i6,  a  law  school  was 
founded  and  three  gentlemen  were  elected  professors.  The  lectures 
were  kept  up  with  much  spirit  for  two  years,  but  the  school  was  then 
discontinued.  The  iwsition  of  the  college  was  not  favorable  to  the 
establishment  of  professional  schools  of  law  and  medicine,  and  from  that 
time  on  no  attempt  was  made  to  establish  them. 

The  growth  of  the  college  compelled  the  authorities  to  provide 
increased  accommodation  for  the  students.  Two  dormitories  Avere 
erected,  East  College  in  1833  and  West  College  in  1836,  each  four 
stories  in  height ;  they  were  built  of  stone,  with  brick  partitions,  and 
fire-proof  stairways  of  iron,  and  the  stairs  inclosed  in  brick  walls. 
Each  of  the  dormitories  gave  accommodation  to  64  students.  The 
college  authorities  were  unable  to  gratify  their  taste  in  their  construc- 
tion; but  for  sixty  years  and  more  they  have  served  their  purpose 
well,  and  it  is  probable  that  no  investn^ent  of  the  college  has  yielded  a 
larger  return.  The  cost  of  erecting  each  was  less  than  $14,000.  The 
growth  of  the  college  led  also  to  increased  activity  in  the  two  literary 
societies.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  no  homes  of  their  own.  The  meet- 
ings were  held  in  rooms  provided  by  the  college  in  the  building  now 
known  as  the  college  offices.  But  in  the  winter  of  1S36-37  two  new  halls 
were  built.  The  description  of  one  will  serve  for  both.  "  Whig  Hall," 
says  Professor  Cameron,  "  is  a  building  in  Ionic  style,  62  feet  long,  41  feet 
wide,  and  two  stories  high.  The  columns  of  the  hexastyle  porticoes  are 
copied  from  those  of  a  temple  by  Ilissus  near  the  fountain  of  the  Calli- 
rhoe,  in  Athens,  The  splendid  temple  of  Diouysius  in  the  Ionian  city  of 
Zeos,  situated  on  a  ])eninsu]a  of  Asia  Minor,  is  a  model  of  the  building 
in  other  respects."  During  the  administration  of  Br.  Carnahau,  the 
college  gained  immensely  not  only  by  the  separate,  but  also  by  the  asso- 
ciated energies  of  the  able  men  who  formed  the  faculty.  Their  meetings 
were  frequent  and  the  exchange  of  ideas  led  to  a  higher  and  increased 
activity  in  all  departments,  discipline,  examinations,  lectures,  and  recita- 
tions. The  scientific  researches  of  its  eminent  professors — for  not  a  few 
of  them  became  eminent — added  to  the  reputation  of  the  institution  and 
gave  it  a  standing  which  it  had  never  before  enjoyed  as  an  institutionof 
learning.  Indeed  it  may  be  said  that  in  the  sense  in  which  it  had  been 
an  eminent  home  and  rairsery  of  patriotism  in  the  days  of  Witherspoon, 
it  was  now  a  great  institution  for  the  cultivation  of  the  sciences  and 
the  liberal  arts.  From  time  to  time,  however,  the  college  sustained 
great  losses  by  the  death  or  the  removal  to  other  institutions  of  several 
important  members  of  the  faculty.  eToseph  Addison  Alexander,  after 
three  years  of  work,  was  seized  by  the  theological  seminary,  where, 
until  his  death,  he  had  a  brilliant  career.  Joseph  Henry,  after  laboring 
for  sixteen  years  in  the  chair  of  natural  i^hilosophy  and  making  dis- 
coveries in  the  sphere  of  science  and  performing  inestimable  services 
for  his  country,  was  called,  in  1848,  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 


262  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Albert  B.  Dod,  who  was  brilliant  not  ouly  iii  the  chair  of  mathematics, 
but  iu  the  i)ulpit  autl  in  the  pages  of  the  lieview,  died  in  1845;'  and 
James  W.  Alexander,  whose  cultivation  and  fertility  as  a  writer  entitle 
one  to  say  of  him  that  he  might  have  become  one  of  the  most  eminent 
of  American  men  of  letters,  felt  it  his  duty  to  become  a  pastor,  and 
resigned  in  1844.  These  were  great  losses,  but  men  of  ability  were  at 
once  called  to  the  vacant  places,  and  the  large  work  of  the  institution 
did  not  suffer.  Dr.  Elias  Loomis,  and  after  his  resignation  Professor 
McCuUoch,  took  the  place  of  Joseph  Henry.  Dr.  Hope,  a  man  of  charm- 
ing Christian  character  as  well  as  a  wise  and  stimulating  teacher,  suc- 
ceeded Dr.  James  Alexander;  and  Stephen  Alexander,  a  graduate  of 
Union  College,  who  became  eminent  as  an  astronomer,  a  man  of  enthu- 
siasm and  eloquence,  whether  he  spoke  on  scientific  or  religious  subjects, 
took  the  place  of  Professor  Dod.  By  nothing  is  the  intellectual  life  of 
the  college  at  this  time  more  clearly  shown  than  it  is  by  the  fact  that 
of  the  30  professors  elected  duriiig  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration  about 
one-half  were  its  own  graduates. 

Dr.  Carnahau  resigned  in  1853.  In  the  thirty-one  years  of  his 
administration  1,677  students  were  admitted  to  the  first  degree  of  the 

'  In  my  student  clays  there  was  a  professional  constellation  in  the  faculty  that  for 
brilliancy  lias  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equaled  in  any  American  institution.  It  was  our 
privilege  to  be  instructed  in  mathematics  by  Albert  B.  Dod,  in  physics  by  Joseph 
Henry,  in  belles  lettres  and  Latin  by  James  W.  Alexander,  in  astronomy  by  Stephen 
Alexander,  in  chemistry  and  botany  by  John  Torrcy.  Dr.  Maclean's  rare  talent  for 
leadership  was  strikingly  exhibited  in  tlie  selection  and  collection  of  such  a  group 
of  educators  at  a  critical  period  in  the  history  of  the  college.  All  but  one  of  the 
group,  at  that  time  the  most  conspicuous,  lived  to  accomplish  the  full  career  of  dis- 
tinction of  which  their  early  professorial  life  gave  promise.  With  the  eminence  to 
which  these  attained  all  are  familiar.  Few,  however,  at  the  present  day  appreciate 
how  sore  an  intellectual  bereavement  Princeton  suftVred  in  the  death  of  Albert  B. 
Dod  in  the  jirinie  of  his  early  manhood.  His  intellect  was  notable  for  the  versatil- 
ity as  well  as  the  rarity  of  his  genius.  He  seemed  alike  eminent  in  mathematics,  in 
physics,  in  philosophy,  in  literature,  in  ;esthetics,  and  in  theology.  Though  his 
death  occurred  when  but  40  years  of  age,  no  one  had  contributed  more  largely  to  the 
high  reputation  of  the  Princeton  Review,  not  only  in  this  country  but  Great  Britain, 
by  his  profojind  and  scholarly  articles  on  "Analytical  Geometry,"  "The  Vestiges  of 
Creation,''  "  Transcendentalism^"  including  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  Cousin's 
"Philosophy,"  "Oxford  Architecture,"  Finney's  "Sermons  and  Lectures,"  "Tlie  Elder 
Question,"  which  at  the  time  agitated  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  "Lyman  Beech- 
er's  Theology."  Rarely  has  any  college  or  university  had  in  its  curriculum  a  course 
of  lectures  more  inspiring  intellectually  and  a'sthetically  instructive  than  Professor 
Dod's  course  i:i  "Architecture,"  covering  the  whole  Held.  Egyptian,  Grecian,  Roman, 
Gothic,  and  Modern.  They  were  delivered  without  manuscript  and  held  the  audi- 
ence iu  rai)t  attention  by  interesting  intbrmation,  subtle  analysis  of  i)riuciples,  ele- 
vated thought,  lucid  statement,  brilliant  rhetoric,  delivered  with  the  ease  of  a 
conversational  manner  with  fVe(iuent  passages  thrillingly  eloquent.  The  same 
intellectual  (jualities  characterized  his  sermons.  Those  who  remember  Professor 
Dod  as  a  lecturer  and  preacher  are  frequently  reminded  of  him  when  listening  to  the 
president  of  our  university.  Had  Professor  Dod's  life  been  spared,  as  the  lives  of 
his  eminent  colleagues  were,  to  bring  forth  fruit  even  to  old  age,  among  the  many 
Princeton  men  who  have  attained  high  distinction  his  name  would  have  been  con- 
spicuous.—MS.  of  Prof.  J.  T.  DutTfield. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  263 

arts,  the  auuual  average  being  over  54.  Of  these  73  became  presidents 
or  professors  in  colleges  or  other  seminaries  of  learning;  8  became  Sena- 
tors of  the  United  States;  26  members  of  the  national  Honse  of  liep- 
reseutatives;  4  were  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  a  large  number 
became  eminent  in  the  liberal  i)rofessions.  The  number  graduated 
during  his  presidency  was  larger  than  the  number  graduated  during 
the  administrations  of  all  of  his  predecessors.  While  he  was  in  office, 
the  relations  between  the  trustees  and  the  faculty  and  between  the 
members  of  the  faculty  were  singularly  harmonious.  The  students 
enjoyed  a  larger  measure  of  freedom  than  during  any  earlier  adminis- 
tration. And  when  students  were  disciplined,  the  welfare  of  the  stu- 
dents had  quite  as  much  intiuence  as  the  welfare  of  the  institution  in 
determining  the  chastisement. 

In  his  letter  of  resignation  J)r.  Carnahau  paid  a  high  tribute  to  his 
colleague,  Vice-President  Maclean.  After  the  remark  that  Dr.  Maclean 
was  the  only  officer  living  of  those  connected  with  the  college  when  his 
presidency  began,  Dr.  Carnahau  said:  "To  his  activity,  energy,  zeal, 
and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  institution  I  must  be  jjermitted  to 
give  my  uucpialitled  testimony.  We  have  passed  through  many  trying 
times  together.  In  time  of  need  he  was  always  at  his  post  without 
shrinking;  he  was  always  ready  to  meet  opposition  in  the  discharge  of 
what  he  thought  to  be  his  duty.''  Dr.  Carnahau  lived  six  years  after 
his  resignation.  He  was  chosen  a  trustee  of  the  college,  and  his  suc- 
cessor says  of  him :  "In  every  respect  he  was  a  helper  to  his  successor 
and  gave  him  his  cordial  support  both  in  the  board  and  without."  He 
died  on  the  3d  of  March,  1851>,  and  was  buried  at  Princeton  by  the  side 
of  his  immediate  predecessor.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green. 

It  was  ordered  that  in  December,  1853,  at  the  stated  semiannual 
meeting,  the  board  should  elect  a  president  of  the  college.  Three  gen- 
tlemen were  named  for  the  position,  two  of  them  without  their  consent. 
One  was  Joseph  Henry,  secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  who 
positively  declined  to  be  a  candidate.  Another  was  the  liev.  Dr.  David 
Magie,  of  Elizabeth,  K,  J.,  a  graduate  of  the  college,  an  eminent 
preacher  and  pastor,  and  one  of  the  trustees,  who,  notwithstanding  his 
earnest  advocacy  of  Dr.  Maclean's  election,  received  several  votes. 
The  third  was  Dr.  Maclean,  vice-president  of  the  college.  Dr.  Maclean 
was  elected.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  and  delivered  his  inaugural 
address  at  the  commencement  of  1854.  His  address  was  partly  histor- 
ical and  partly  an  exposition  of  the  policy  to  be  pursued  during  his 
administration.  The  new  president  was  a  native  of  Princeton,  and  was 
born  on  March  3,  1800.  He  was  the  son  of  the  college's  first  professor 
of  chemistry.  He  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1810,  and  was  its 
youngest  member.  For  a  year  after  graduation  he  taught  in  the  clas- 
sical school  at  Lawrenceville.  In  1818  he  became  a  tutor,  and  from 
that  date  until  his  resignation  as  president  in  1868  he  was  a  member 
of  the  faculty.  His  whole  active  life  was  thus  giv^en  to  the  college. 
He  interested  himself  only  in  such  objects  as  were  in  harmony  with  the 


264  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

interests  of  the  college.  He  tauglit  at  various  times  matliematics,  nat- 
ural philosophy,  Latiu,  Greek,  aud  the  evidences  of  Christiauity.  He 
accjuired  kuowledge  with  great  ease,  and  his  wide  intellectual  sympa- 
thies are  shown  in  the  chairs  he  filled.  In  his  younger  life  he  was  an 
able  aud  stimulating  teacher;  but  the  burden  of  administration  was 
laid  upon  him  soon  after  he  became  a  teacher,  and  the  exceptional 
executive  ability  shown  by  him  led  his  colleagues  to  believe  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  subordinate  his  scholarly  ambition  to  the  welfare  of  the 
college.  Dr.  Maclean  acquiesced,  aud  in  this  way  he  was  prevented 
from  becoming  eminent  in  any  branch  of  study.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  up  to  his  presidency  Princeton  had  enjoyed  the  services  of  no 
chief  executive  officer  who  so  completely  sank  his  own  personality  in 
the  institution  he  served.  As  has  already  been  said,  his  untiring  ener- 
gies, his  sagacious  judgment  of  men  and  measures  contribnted  largely 
to  the  success  of  the  administration  of  Dr.  Carnahan,  and  it  was  confi- 
dently expected  that  his  own  administration  would  at  its  close  show 
an  advance  as  great  as  that  made  between  the  death  of  Dr.  Green  and 
his  own  accession.  In  one  important  respect  this  exjiectation  was  not 
disappointed.  It  mnst  be  remembered  to  the  lasting  honor  of  most  of 
the  institutions  of  higher  education  in  America  that  up  to  the  close  of 
the  civil  M^ar  they  accomplished  their  great  work  for  the  church  and 
state  with  almost  no  endowments.  This  is  true  of  both  Princeton  and 
Yale.  Speaking  only  of  Princeton,  after  having  been  in  existence  one 
hundred  and  seven  years,  and  after  having  made  the  noble  record 
shown  by  the  general  catalogue  and  the  statistics  which  have  been 
given  in  this  sketch,  the  treasury  contained  only  815,000  of  endow- 
ments. It  is  almost  incredible  that  all  excejit  this  amount  which  had 
been  received  by  the  treasury  was  of  necessity  expended  for  the  pur- 
chase of  lands  and  the  erection  of  buildings  and  the  maintenance,  year 
after  year,  of  the  work  of  the  college.  Besides  maintaining  the  college 
and  largely  increasing  the  number  of  its  students,  Dr.  Maclean,  aided 
by  his  coUeagnes,  and  especially  by  Dr.  Matthew  B.  Hope'  and  Dr. 

'  Dr.  Hope's  death,  ia  1859,  "was  a  great  loss  to  the  college.  He  was  engaged  just 
before  his  death  iu  concerting  measures  for  an  increase  in  its  endowment.  Fortu- 
nately, so  far  as  the  duties  of  his  chair  went,  the  college  secured  an  al)le  successor 
in  Prof.  J.  H.  Mcllvaine.  "Joshua  Hall  Mcllvaine  was  horn  iu  Lewes,  Del.,  March 
4,  1815.  Graduating  from  Princeton  College  in  1837  and  from  Princeton  Seminary 
in  1840,  he  entered  upon  his  ministerial  woik  at  Little  Falls,  X.  Y.  Subsequeutly 
he  held  pastorates  at  Utiea  and  Rochesrer,  N.  Y.,  iu  which  last  city  his  ministry  was 
hi,i;hly  successful.  In  18()0  he  acce2)ted  the  chair  of  belles-lettres  and  elocution  in 
Princeton  Cidlege,  his  department  in  1869  embracing  also  the  subject  of  English 
language  and  literature.  Called  to  the  city  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  1870,  he  rcsigued 
his  professorship  to  reassuiiie  the  j)astorate.  Hero  he  labored  until  1887,  when,  once 
again,  he  returned  to  educational  work  as  president  of  Evelyn  College  for  Women 
at  Princeton,  of  which  institution  he  was  himself  the  founder,  and  which  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  .January  29,  1897,  was  comjjleting  the  tirst  decade  of  its  history. 
Dr.  Mcllvaine  was  in  his  day  a  A^crsatile  scholar  of  higii  attainment.  His  special 
studies  in  Sanskrit  and  comparative  ])hilology,  on  which  topics  he  lectured  at  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  were  carried  on  at  a  time  when  but  few  American  scholars 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  265 

Lymau  H,  Atwater,'  endeavored  successfully  duriug  liis  adniiiiistra- 
tion  to  provide  the  college  with  some  permanent  funds.  All  efforts  up 
to  this  time  to  secure  an  endowment  had  failed ;  and  efforts  had  repeat- 
edly been  made,  'three  times  during  the  previous  administration,  in 

were  vrorking  with  Whitney  along  those  lines  of  linguistic  investigation.  His  studi- 
ous devotion  to  the  subject  of"  The  Arrowhead  Inscriptions"  was  worthy  of  a  specialist 
in  that  department.  To  this  distinctively  philological  and  archieological  work  he 
added  a  wide  rhetorical  and  literary  culture,  especially  as  applied  Avithin  the  sphere 
of  English  studies,  and  published  at  the  close  of  his  college  professorship  a  work  enti- 
tled Elocution:  The  Sources  and  Elements  of  its  Power,  which  evinces  a  high  order 
of  ability  from  the  fact  that  it  vitally  connects,  and  almost  for  the  tirst  time,  all  real 
training  and  expression  with  the  profoundest  processes  of  the  human  mind.  Dr 
Mcllvaine  was  still  further  a  pronounced  political  economist  of  the  school  of  Carey 
and  sought  with  unabated  zeal  to  connect  in  vital  union  the  highest  interests  of 
human  society  with  the  highest  demands  of  ethical  law.  Teaching  this  subject 
when  a  professor  at  Princeton,  he  gave  to  it  much  of  his  best  thought,  awakened  in 
its  study  a  genuine  enthusiasm,  and  lifted  the  whole  department  from  the  lower 
level  of  the  merely  economic  to  that  of  the  moral  and  Christian.  It  was  in  connec- 
tion with  this  line  of  work  that  he  became  such  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  pro- 
nounced acknowledgment  of  God  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Still 
again,  Dr.  Mcllvaine  was  a  theologian  of  no  inferior  order,  broad-minded  and  yet 
analytic  and  acute.  Thoroughly  versed  in  the  content  of  Scripture  and  the  high 
truths  of  Christian  theology,  he  thought  and  wrote  and  spoke  on  these  topics  with 
manifest  ability  and  convincing  urgency.  His  published  works  in  these  directions. 
The  Tree  of  Knowledge  of  Good  aud  Evil,  and  The  Wisdom  of  the  Holy  Scripture^ 
especially  the  latter  treatise,  are  a  sufficient  evidence  of  the  depth  and  range  of  his 
theology.  It  was  here  that  much  of  his  power  as  a  preacher  lay— in  the  strong  and 
vital  hold  that  he  had  on  the  great  cardinal  truths  of  the  gospel,  so  that  he  presented 
them  in  vital  manner.  Dr.  Mcllvaine  was  a  notable  example  in  his  preaching  of  the 
union  of  marked  intellectuality  with  fervent  spiritual  power.  His  thought  and 
experience  were  inseparably  fused,  and  it  is  not  at  all  strange  that  his  sermons  in  the 
college  chapel  were  often  elo(iuently  and  spiritually  impressive,  and  had,  under  God,  a 
molding  influence  over  hundreds  of  young  men.  Not  a  few  of  his  sermons  were  made 
doubly  potent  by  the  sharp  trials  through  which  he  was  called  to  pass  and  which  he 
bore  with  quiet  and  heroic  fortitude.  As  a  professor  in  the  class  room  Dr.  Mcllvaine 
had  exceptional  gifts,  being  in  many  respects  a  great  teacher.  His  conceptions  of 
truth  were  clear  and  vivid,  his  personal  judgments  strong  and  deep-rooted,  his  dis- 
criminating logic  keen  and  searching,  and  he  had,  withal,  a  gift  uf  statement  and 
expression  which  enabled  him  to  enforce  aud  impress  his  teachings.  His  great  power 
as  a  teacher  lay  in  his  suggestiveness.  He  never  attempted  to  exhaust  a  subject,  but 
simply  to  unfold  it  to  the  view  and  examination  of  the  student.  He  had  a  rare 
faculty  of  detecting  the  salient  ideas  and  principles  of  a  subject,  of  throwing  out 
germinal  suggestions  so  as  to  make  thinkers  of  students  and  cast  them  largely  upon 
their  own  mental  resources.  Such  an  order  of  instruction  is  more  than  mere  instruc- 
tion; it  is  construction  and  promotion,  and  with  all  the  advances  of  higher  educa- 
tion far  too  seldom  seen  among  us.  In  a  word.  Dr.  Mcllvaine  was  a  thinker  and 
scholar  aud  writer  aud  teacher  and  preacher  of  unquestioned  ability  and  possessed 
an  individuality  of  mind  aud  character  as  uui(iue  as  it  was  impressive.  More  than 
this  he  was,  in  his  place  and  way  and  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  opportunity,  a 
distinctive  moral  aud  educational  force,  aud  has  left  an  impress  upon  his  genera- 
tion which  is  not  more  visible  than  it  is  only  because  it  is  so  deeply  hidden  within 
the  lives  of  his  pupils  and  parishioners. — MS.  of  Prof.  T.  W.  Hunt. 

I  My  acquaintance  with  Prof.  Lyman  H.  Atwater  began  in  my  freshnuvn  year  when, 
on  the  occasion  of  some  discipline  which  the  faculty  had'imposed  on  some  members 


266  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

1825,  1830,  and  1835.  "The  aggregate  of  gifts  to  the  college/'  says 
Dr.  Duflfield,  -'duriug  Mr.  Maclean's  administration  was  about  8150,000." 
This  aggregate  is  probably  a  larger  amount  than  the  college  had 
received  in  gifts  from  its  foundation  to  the  begiuning  of  Dr.  Maclean's 
administration.  The  accessions  to  the  college  were  greatly  increased. 
The  last  year  of  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration  the  number  catalogued 
was  217;  seven  years  later,  in  1861,  just  before  the  beginning  of  the 
civil  war,  311  students  were  in  residence.  But  for  the  beginning  of 
hostilities  and  the  exodus  of  all  the  students  from  the  South,  the  grad- 
uating class  of  that  year  would  probably  have  numbered  nearly  100. 
The  life  of  the  college  during  this  period  was  in  no  respect  different 
from  its  life  during  the  previous  administrations.  The  same  modes  of 
teaching  were  pursued  and  the  same  policy  in  discipline  was  executed. 
The  aim.  of  Dr.  Maclean  and  his  colleagues  was  to  perfect  the  institu- 
tion as  a  college.  They  had  tried  the  experiment  of  a  university  and, 
as  they  supposed,  had  failed.  The  summer  school  of  medicine  and  the 
law  school  had  been  abandoned,  and  the  whole  influence  of  the  faculty 
was  exerted  to  develop  the  institution  along  the  lines  of  the  course  of 
study  leading  to  the  first  degree  in  the  arts.  In  this  Dr.  Maclean  and 
the  faculty  were  eminently  successful.  The  curriculum  was  enriched 
and  the  faculty  was  enlarged.  How  popular  the  college  was  and  how 
really  national  it  was  in  the  support  given  to  it  will  be  seen  from  the 
fact  that  of  the  three  hundred  and  more  students  in  attendance  during 
the  college  year  of  1859-CO,  more  than  one- third  came  from  the  South- 
ern States,  and  that  26  of  the  31  States  of  the  Union  were  represented 
in  the  classes. 


of  our  class,  a  committee  of  which  I  was  a  member  waited  on  several  members  of  the 
faculty  in  order,  if  possible,  to  secure  some  mitigation  of  the  penalty.  Dr.  Atwater 
was  one  of  the  professors  we  called  on,  and  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  diguitied 
courtesy  with  which  we  were  received  or  the  wholesome  and  judicious  advice  which 
he  gave  us.  I  was  very  much  impressed  at  the  time  with  his  kindly  but  command- 
ing presence,  and  conceived  on  the  spot  an  admiration  for  the  old  man  which  with 
further  acquaintance  ripened  into  genuine  regard.  It  was  in  my  junior  year  that  I 
first  came  to  know  Professor  Atwater  as  a  teacher.  That  was  the  relation  in  which 
I  knew  him  best.  He  conducted  classes  in  logic,  metaphysics,  economics,  and  politi- 
cal science.  He  was  somewhat  old-fashioned  in  his  methods,  but  was  one  of  the  most 
eft'ective  teachers  I  have  ever  known.  Physically  he  was  a  very  large  man,  with  a 
somewhat  elephantine  gait,  and  his  English  would  have  delighted  the  soul  «>f  Dr. 
Johnson.  But  he  had  the  faculty  of  making  himself  intelligible,  and  his  subji-cts 
were  among  those  that  were  most  intelligently  appreciated  and  understood  by  the 
large  body  of  students.  Dr.  Atwater  was  very  conscientious  in  his  work  and  spared 
no  pains  to  make  his  subjects  clear  to  the  average  intelligence  of  his  pupils.  He  had 
an  unusual  faculty  for  logical  division  and  definition  and  a  power  of  statement 
which,  on  looking  back  over  the  lapse  of  years,  I  still  think  to  have  been  extraordi- 
nary. But,  more  than  his  qualities  as  a  teacher,  what  endeared  Professor  Atwater  to 
us  students  was  the  perfect  fairness  and  just  considerateness  with  which  he  treated 
us.  However  we  might  fare  at  the  hands  of  other  professors,  we  were  perfectly 
sure  that  "Dad,"  as  we  affectionately  called  him,  would  give  us  fair  play,  and  in 
this  we  were  never  disappointed.     Dr.  Atwater  combined  a  considerate  disijosition 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  267 

The  success  of  Dr.  Maclean's  admiuistration,  as  thus  indicated,  was 
achieved  in  spite  of  great  obstacles.  He  had  not  been  a  year  in  the 
presidency  when  the  college  suffered  a  second  time  from  the  burning  of 
Nassau  Hall.  It  was  destroyed  by  lire  in  1855,  and  was  rebuilt  at 
great  expense,  the  old  chapel  being  enlarged  and  made  the  library. 
This  expenditure  had  scarcely  been  made  when  the  college  was  com- 
pelled by  the  financial  panic  which  seized  the  country  in  1857  to  aban- 
don for  a  time  the  project  of  increasing  its  endowment.  A  period  of 
business  depression  followed,  from  which  the  country  had  not  recov- 
ered when,  in  18G1,  the  Southern  States  seceded  and  the  civil  wai  began. 
No  college  in  the  North  was  so  popular  in  the  South  as  Princeton.  As 
has  already  been  said,  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  strife  one-third  of 
its  students  were  living  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  When  to 
this  blow  is  added  the  enlistment  of  not  a  few  of  its  students  in  tae 
Union  army  and  the  diminution  of  the  entering  classes  on  account  of 
the  call  of  the  country  on  its  young  men  to  defend  the  Union  on  the 
field  of  battle,  the  only  cause  for  wonder  is  that  during  the  four  years 
of  active  hostilities  the  college  maintained  itself  so  well.  With  the 
close  of  the  war  the  numbers  of  the  students  slowly  increased.  Three 
years  after  peace  was  declared — that  is  to  say,  in  1868 — the  entering 
students  numbered  117 — "the  largest  number,"  says  Dr.  Duflfield,  "up 
to  that  ijeriod  in  the  history  of  the  college.''  But  just  as  the  college 
was  recovering  the  popularity  which  it  enjoyed  immediately  before  the 
war  began.  Dr.  Maclean  began  to  feel  the  burdens  of  age.     His  energy 

with  an  eminently  judicial  temper.  I  used  to  think  that  in  his  case  a  great  jurist 
had  l)cen  spoiled  in  order  to  make  a  great  professor.  But  none  of  the  students  of 
his  time  would  have  been  willing  to  enrich  the  judiciary  of  the  country  at  the 
expense  of  the  Princeton  faculty.  I  well  remember  going  to  Dr.  Atwater  on  a  num- 
ber of  occasions  for  advice.  This  was  nevt  r  refused.  With  what  at  the  tinie 
seemed  to  me  unnecessary  minuteness  the  learned  professor  Avould  indicate  by  a 
process  of  logical  exclusion  a  number  of  alternatives  that  were  not  to  be  chosen. 
He  would  then  say,  "but  if  I  were  in  your  case,  I  think  I  should  take  the  following 
course,  to  wit,"  and  then  he  would  outline  a  policy  so  eminently  seusible  as  to 
carry  instant  conviction  with  it  and  leave  nothing  further  to  be  said.  Dr.  Atwater 
was  wise  and  conservative  in  counsel  and  seldom  made  a  mistake.  He  was  a  man 
upon  whose  judgment  not  only  the  students  but  also  his  colleagues  in  the  faculty 
leaned.  He  was  a  pillnr  in  the  church,  being  recognized  as  an  authority  in  eccle- 
siastical law  and  a  citizen  who  was  profoundly  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity and  the  nation.  His  ripe  judgment  came  to  be  respected  by  our  public  men 
and  legislators,  who  in  times  of  perplexity  came  to  him  for  counsel  and  guidance. 
Dr.  Atwater's  was  a  great,  simple,  and  kindly  nature.  He  was  honest,  open,  and 
straightforward  in  all  his  dealings  with  his  fellow-men.  Anything  like  sharp  prac- 
tice or  Machiavellian  politics  was  wholly  foreign  to  his  nature.  There  was  a  simple 
dignity  about  the  man  that  was  truly  Roman,  and  with  it  all  he  was  animated  by  a 
childlike  Christian  spirit.  His  religion  was  as  straight  and  as  genuine  as  his  life. 
Seeing  his  homely  goodness  from  day  to  day,  we  students  could  not  doubt  the  reality 
of  the  Christianity  he  professed.  On  that  February  day  in  1883  when  the  dear  old 
man  died,  the  world  lost  a  large  and  royal  soul,  but  he  left  behind  him  the  record  of 
a  noble  life  which  is  still  a  power  in  tho  hearts  of  all  who  knew  and  loved  him. — ■ 
MS.  of  Prof.  Alexander  T.  Ormond. 


268  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

was  not  what  it  once  was,  and,  what  was  more  imiiortaut,  the  war, 
among  its  other  revokitions,  had  changed  the  views  of  many  interested 
in  higher  education  concerning  the  college  curriculum  and  college  man- 
agement. The  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  North,  which  had  been 
divided  since  1838,  was  preparing  the  way  for  a  reunion.  The  country 
was  entering  upon  a  new  life.  Dr.  Maclean  felt  that  he  should  yield  to 
another  the  position  which  for  fourteen  years  he  had  occupied  with 
such  conspicuous  success.  He  resigned  at  the  close  of  fifty  years  of 
official  life,  his  resignation  taking  place  at  the  commencement  of  18(58. 
After  he  retired  he  employed  his  leisure  in  writing  the  history  of  the 
college.     One  of  his  students  has  admirably  said : 

Of  the  intellectual  character  of  Dr.  Macleau  it  is  not  easy  to  form  an  estimate. 
The  circumstances  of  the  college  forced  him  to  give  instruction  in  so  Uiany  depart- 
ments that  it  would  have  been  a  marvel  if  he  had  found  additional  time  to  prove  his 
genius  in  any.  But  so  strong  and  facile  was  his  mental  energy  that  it  developed  a 
notable  degree  of  talent  for  almost  every  subject  that  interested  him.  He  was  able 
to  hold  the  difterent  chairs  in  Princeton,  not  through  mere  partiality;  for,  it  is  now 
known — what  his  modesty  at  the  time  concealed — that  he  received  overtures  from 
other  colleges  to  fill  similar  professorships  with  them.  Dr.  Matthew  B.  Hope,'  than 
whom  Princeton  never  had  a  shrewder  judge  of  men,  used  to  say  that  had  Maclean 
given  himself  to  any  particular  study  in  science,  philosophy,  or  language,  he  would 


'Matthew  B.  Hope,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  central  Pennsylvania,  June  31,  1812,  and 
died  at  Princeton,  December  17,  18.59.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Jefferson  College,  of 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  and  of  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  licensed  and  ordained  as  an  evangelist  in  1835;  went  as  a 
missionary  to  Singapore,  India,  in  1836;  returned  home  after  two  years,  because  ot 
failing  health;  was  appointed  huancial  secretary  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Edu- 
cation in  1839  and  corresponding  secretary  in  1842.  In  1846  he  resigned  the  secre- 
taryship of  the  board  for  the  professorship  of  the  belles-lettres  and  political  economy 
in  the  College  of  New  .Jersey.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  judgment,  of  clear  insight, 
of  strong  convictions,  of  high  and  solemn  purpose,  of  strong  individuality,  direct, 
kindly,  without  pride  and  without  show.  As  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  he  analyzed  '•'the 
process  and  the  laws  underlying  the  process  by  which  the  convictions  of  the  intellect 
are  not  only  conveyed  from  the  speaker  to  the  hearers,  but  transferred,  in  the  act  of 
conveyance,  from  the  sphere  of  the  intellect  to  that  of  the  active  powers."  In  other 
words,  he  taught  rhetoric  both  as  a  science  and  as  an  art.  He  had  a  subtle,  analytic 
mind,  and,  above  all  the  other  members  of  the  faculty,  he  sought  to  make  the  stu- 
dents think.  His  class-room  exercises  were  mental  gymnastics.  If  the  students  in 
their  answers  repeated  the  precise  language  of  his  book  or  lectures  it  worried  him. 
For,  as  style  is  the  expression  of  the  individuality  of  the  man,  such  answers  were  no 
decisive  evidence  to  Iiim  that  the  students  had  mastered  the  subject  and  assimilated 
the  thought,  and  when  lie  plied  them  with  (questions  to  test  them,  and  brought  their 
iguorauce  of  the  subject  to  light,  it  was  with  utter  self-oblivion  and  an  ardent  desire 
to  make  them  think  and  to  bring  them  to  see  the  truth.  His  lectures  on  political 
economy  were  based  on  the  principle  involved  in  the  precept,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself."  When  he  criticised  an  author,  it  was  not  with  an  air  of  superior 
wisdom,  nor  as  one  who  was  seeking  to  exalt  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  author, 
but  with  a  genuine  love  of  truth  and  desire  that  the  student  might  see  and  get  the 
truth.  He  was  liouest  through  and  through,  a  preeuuuently  good  man.  and  intensely 
interested  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  students.  One  of  his  ablest  and  most  dis- 
tinguished pupils.  Dr.  D.  S.  Gregory,  says:  "Dr.  Hope  was  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able men  whom  I  ever  met.     His  w.as  one  of  the  most  delicate] v  oryauized  natures  I 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  269 

easily  have  attained  celebrity  in  it.  If  we  doubt  this,  we  may  find  a  reason  for  the 
failure  of  Dr.  Maclean  to  become  a  master  ia  specialty,  not  in  the  lack  of  special 
ability,  bnt  rather  in  the  possession  of  certain  other  intellectual  impulses  which 
made  his  thoughts  overflow  any  single  channel.' 

But  if  he  failed  to  attain  eminence  in  any  single  direction,  Dr.  ]Mac- 
lean  was  eminently  gifted  as  a  counsellor.  He  grasped  seriously  the 
elements  of  any  situation  in  which  the  college  was  placed  and  was  as 
able  as  most  men  to  discern  the  policy  which  it  demanded.  He  knew 
men  well.  Quickly,  and  with  a  large  degree  of  accuracy,  he  inferred 
character  from  conduct.  He  not  only  seldom  made  mistakes,  but  was 
extraordinarily  successful  in  the  selection  or  nomination  of  colleagues. 
His  accurate  estimate  of  men  was  shown  clearly  in  his  estimate  of  him- 
self. Probably  no  man  ever  connected  with  Princeton  College  took  his 
own  measure  more  exactly.  This  knowledge  of  himself  was  due  not 
more  to  his  ability  than  to  the  sincerity  of  his  character.  This  sincerity, 
with  the  magnanimity  and  charity  that  were  blended  with  it,  was  rec- 
ognized not  only  by  those  associated  with  him  in  the  board  of  trustees 
and  faculty  of  instruction,  but  also  by  his  students  and  the  people  of 
the  town  in  which  he  i)assed  his  life.  "My  immediate  predecessor," 
says  Dr.  McCosh,  "was  John  Maclean,  the  well-beloved,  who  watched 
over  young  men  so  carefully  and  never  rebuked  a  student  without  mak- 
ing him  a  friend."^  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  called  him  the  most  loved  man 
in  America;  and  Dr.  Ludlow  gave  apt  expression  to  the  feeling  of  all 
his  students  touching  his  personal  interest  in  them  in  the  remark :  "  St. 
Hildegarde  used  to  say,  '  I  put  my  soul  within  your  soul.'  Dr.  Maclean 
put  his  soul  within  the  soul  of  the  young  man  if  ever  a  man  did;  he 
felt  for  us,  he  felt  as  he  felt  himself  in  us."  It  was  the  conviction  of 
Dr.  ^lacleau's  sympathy  with  the  life  of  each  of  his  students,  his  readi- 
ness to  sacrifice  himself  for  their  interests  that  gave  him  in  his  old  age 
and  retirement  the  love  and  honor  and  troops  of  friends  that  blessed 
his  latest  years.  In  the  narrower  and  retired  life  he  lived  after  his  res- 
ignation he  was  as  active  as  a  philanthropist,  though  within  a  restricted 
field,  as  he  ever  had  been.  As  he  had  lived  beloved  by  all  he  died 
lamented  by  all  August  10,  1880. 

The  resignation  of  Dr.  Maclean  having  been  accepted  to  take  effect 
at  the  commencement  of  1868  the  trustees  elected,  as  his  successor,  the 

ever  knew.  In  it  there  was  naturally  the  greatest  delicacy  of  the  senses,  accompa- 
nied by  remarkable  keenness  and  breadth  of  intellect,  depth  of  emotion,  firmness  of 
will,  and  sensitiveness  of  taste  and  conscience,  and  all  dominated  l>y  absolute  loyalty 
to  Jesus  Christ.  As  a  teacher,  educator,  instructor,  he  was  by  far  the  ablest  with 
whom  I  ever  came  in  contact.  *  *  *  During  the  years  of  my  connection  with 
Princeton  College  he  was  preeminently  the  spiritual  power  in  the  institution,  so  far 
as  that  power  was  embodied  in  any  one  personality.  I  doubt  if  any  man  in  any 
institution  ever  exerted  greater  transforming  influence  over  his  pupils  than  did  Dr. 
Hope  over  those  who  came  into  closest  relations  with  him." — MS.  of  Prof.  S.  Stan-, 
hope  Orris. 

'  Memorial  Address  by  .lames  M.  Ludlow,  D.  D. 

-Life  of  James  McCosh,  p.  192. 


270  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Eev.  Dr.  William  Heury  Green,  professor  of  Oriental  and  Old  Testa- 
ment literature  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  Though  himself  a 
graduate  of  Lafayette  College,  Professor  Green's  family  had  been'asso- 
ciated  with  Princeton  College  from  its  foundation.  Jonathan  Dickin- 
son, the  first  president  of  the  college,  and  Caleb  Smith,  its  first  tutor, 
■were  among  his  ancestors;  and  among  its  distinguished  graduates  and 
benefactors  have  been  some  of  his  near  relatives.  For  many  years  he 
had  given  himself  exclusively  to  Oriental  and  Old  Testament  studies, 
but  in  his  younger  life  he  had  shown  tine  gifts  as  a  teacher  in  other 
departments,  and  had  been  the  pastor  of  a  prominent  church  in  Phila- 
delphia. It  was  felt  not  only  that  his  acceptance  would  strengthen  the 
hold  of  the  college  on  the  church  which  had  in  the  main  supported  it, 
and  bring  to  it  new  friends  and  enlarged  endowment,  but  that  Dr. 
Green's  scholarship  and  character  would  greatly  benefit  the  scholarship, 
the  discipline,  and  the  general  life  of  the  institution.  The  trustees 
received  his  declinature  with  great  regret,  but  the  news  of  it  was  heard 
at  the  theological  seminary  with  the  greatest  pleasure. 

Except  that  of  Dr.  Green,  no  name  united  the  trustees  until  it  was 
proposed  that  the  Kev.  Dr.  James  McCosh,  professor  of  logic  and  phil- 
osophy in  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  Ireland,  be  invited  to  take  the 
vacant  chair.  Dr.  McCosh  visited  America  in  186(!,  and  his  addresses 
deepened  the  favorable  impression  which  his  apologetic  and  philo- 
sophical writings  had  made.  He  was  received  and  heard  everywhere 
as  a  thinker  and  writer  of  deserved  eminence.  The  writer  of  this 
sketch  well  remembers  the  large  audience  which  gathered  in  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  one  evening  during  this  visit,  to  listen 
to  his  defense  of  the  Gospels  against  the  attack  made  upon  them  in 
Kenan's  Life  of  Jesus,  and  how  fully  he  sustained  the  reputation  which 
had  preceded  him.  His  views  in  philosophy  were  those  which  had  been 
taught  and  defended  at  Princeton  College,  and  his  Scottish  nationality 
and  his  residence  in  Ulster  were  an  additional  recommendation  to  the 
college  of  John  Witherspoon  and  to  the  church  of  Francis  Makemie. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  he  had  taken  the  side  of  the  Free  Church  at 
the  disruption  led  the  friends  of  the  college  to  believe  that  he  would 
be  at  home  in  a  republic.  The  divided  Presbyterian  Church  was  about 
to  reunite,  and  it  was  fortunate  that  Dr.  McCosh  had  no  memories  of 
the  theological  and  ecclesiastical  battles  which  culminated  in  the 
division.  For  these  reasons  his  acceptance  was  received  with  great 
pleasure  and  with  confidence  that  the  college  would  prosper  and  be 
enlarged  during  his  administration.  The  Eev.  Dr.  Stearns,  of  Newark, 
a  trustee  of  the  college,  was  moderator  of  the  New  School  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly  in  1868.  While  the  assembly  was  sitting  he  learned 
of  Dr.  McCosh's  acceptance.  The  writer  happened  to  be  standing  by 
when  he  told  the  news  to  the  late  Dr.  Henry  Boynton  Smith.  Dr.  Smith 
said:  "It  was  a  wise  choice.  He  is  a  man  of  great  ability.  He  may 
easily  prove  as  great  a  gift  to  the  church  and  state  as  John  Wither- 


i 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  271 

spoon."  While  liis  acceptauce  awakened  high  hopes,  no  one  anticipated 
his  great  and  brilliant  administration.  Looking  back  upon  it,  now  that 
it  has  been  closed,  it  must  be  regarded  as  the  most  successful,  and  in 
important  respects  the  greatest,  administration  the  college  has  enjoyed. 
Undoubtedly  Dr.  McCosh  was  fortunate  in  the  time  of  his  presidency 
and  in  his  colleagues.  But  greatness  consists  largely  in  seizing  the 
opportunities  which  time  offers;  and  not  a  few  of  his  colleagues  were 
his  own  students,  who  owed  their  inspiration  to  his  teachings  and 
example. 

His  administration  is  too  recent  to  make  appropriate  an  estimate  of 
it  like  that  which  has  been  given  of  each  of  the  earlier  administra- 
tions. He  is  the  last  of  the  presidents  who  have  completed  their  work. 
Such  an  estimate  can  be  made  only  of  a  presidency  which  stands  not 
at  the  close  of  but  well  within  a  series.  Concerning  one  thing,  how- 
ever, there  is  no  peril  in  making  a  positive  statement.  Whatever  shall 
be  the  development  of  the  institution  hereafter,  it  must  always  be  said 
of  James  McCosh  that,  while  loyal  to  the  foundation  and  to  the  history 
of  the  college,  he,  more  than  any  other  man,  made  it  a  university. 
Though  it  was  not  until  after  his  death  that  the  name  was  given,  it 
should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  university  life  began  in  and  because 
of  his  administration.' 

'  The  following  minute  of  the  faculty,  adopted  November  17,  1894,  recognizes  this 
fact: 

"In  recording  the  death  of  President  McCosh,  the  faculty  are  not  able  to  give 
adequate  expression  to  their  feeling.  For  many  years  their  relations  with  him  were 
closer  than  those  of  any  other  portion  of  the  academic  body,  and  their  continued 
friendship  with  him  since  his  retirement  from  office  has  only  deepened  the  sense  of 
bereavement  and  increased  the  veneration  and  love  with  which  they  have  followed 
him  to  his  grave. 

"While  presiding  in  the  faculty,  Dr.  McCosh  always  commanded  respect  by  his 
conscientious  devotion  to  the  college;  by  his  fidelity  in  the  routine  of  official  duties; 
by  his  watchful  supervision  of  the  details  of  the  whole  administration ;  by  his  kindly 
interest  in  the  labors  of  his  colleagues;  by  his  hospitable  welcome  to  every  new 
study  and  new  teacher;  by  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  his  plans  for  expanding 
the  courses  of  instruction,  and  the  wonderful  efficiency  and  success  with  which  he 
carried  these  plans  toward  completion. 

"The  results  of  his  presidency  have  made  a  new  epoch  in  our  history.  The  col- 
lege has  virtually  become  a  university.  Its  faculty  has  been  trebled  in  numbers. 
Its  alumni  and  friends  have  rallied  around  it  with  new  loyalty.  Munificent  gifts 
have  been  jtoured  into  its  treasury.  Schools  of  science,  of  philosophy,  of  art,  of 
civil  and  electrical  engineering  have  been  founded,  with  endowed  professorships, 
fellowships,  and  prizes,  and  an  ample  equipment  of  libraries,  museums,  laboratories, 
observatories,  chapels,  dormitories,  academic  halls,  and  athletic  grounds  and  build- 
ings. We  live  amid  architectural  monuments  of  his  energy,  Avhieh  other  college 
generations  after  us  will  continue  to  admire. 

"In  his  own  department  of  instruction  Dr.  McCosh  has  raised  the  college  to  its 
proper  eminence  as  a  seat  of  philosophical  culture.  He  did  this  primarily  as  a 
thinker,  by  original  contributions  to  logic,  to  metaphysics,  to  psychology,  to  ethics, 
and  to  the  intuitional  school  of  philosophy;  also  as  a  writer,  by  the  numerous 
works,  written  in  a  strong  and  clear  style,  with  which  he  has  enriched  the  philo- 
sophical literature  of  his  time;  and  especially  as  an  inspiring  teacher,  by  training 


272  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  story  of  the  life  and  work  of  this  great  president,  it  has  seemed 
to  the  writer,  ought  to  be  told  here  by  those  who  knew  him  intimately 
aud  were  associated  with  him  in  the  work  he  did.  Happily,  the  litera- 
ture is  abundant  and  throws  light  from  various  sides  on  his  striking 
personality,  his  gifts  as  a  thinker,  writer,  and  teacher,  and  his  career 
as  a  x)resideut.  For  a  biography  detailed  enough  for  our  purpose  we 
are  indebted  to  his  student,  colleague,  and  intimate  frieud.  Prof. 
Andrew  F.  West.  This  biography,  illustrated  by  extracts  from  his 
autobiography  and  estimates  of  his  ability  and  attainments  by  others 
who  knew  him  well,  will  for  this  article  be  the  best  history  of  his 
administration.     Professor  West  writes: 

Rarely  has  academic  history  repeated  itself  with  such  precision  and  emphasis 
as  in  the  person  of  James  McCosh,  who,  though  uni<ine  in  his  own  generation,  had 
a  real  prototype  in  the  person  of  one,  though  only  one,  of  his  predecessors,  President 
John  Witherspoon,  the  ruler  of  Princeton  a  century  ago.     Each  of  them  was  in 

enthusiastic  disciples,  who  are  now  perpetuating  his  influence  in  various  institutions 
of  learning.  From  this  faculty  alone  a  band  of  such  disciples  has  borne  him  rev- 
erently to  his  burial. 

"In  the  sphere  of  college  discipline  Dr.  McCosh  aimed  at  the  moral  training  of 
the  whole  undergraduate  community.  The  students  were  brought  into  more  normal 
relations  with  the  faculty.  Vicious  traditions  and  customs  among  them  were 
uprooted.  Their  self-government  was  guarded  and  promoted,  and  their  religious 
life  found  fuller  expression  in  the  new  Marquand  Chapel,  Murray  Hall,  and  the 
St.  Paul's  Society. 

"  In  the  cause  of  the  higher  education  Dr.  McCosh  became  a  leader  at  once  con- 
servative aud  jirogressive.  On  the  one  hand  he  sought  to  retain  the  classics  for 
their  disciplinal  value  and  as  fundamental  to  the  learned  professions  and  all  true 
scholarship;  and,  for  like  reasons,  the  mathematics  as  esseutial  to  the  sciences, 
whether  pursued  as  bodies  of  pure  knowledge  or  applied  iu  the  arts.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  found  due  place  for  the  host  of  new  special  studies — literary,  his- 
torical, political,  artistic,  technical— demanded  by  modern  life  and  culture.  His 
inaugural  address  '  On  academic  teaching  in  Europe  '  may  be  said  to  have  struck 
the  keynote  of  the  academic  teaching  in  America. 

"As  tlie  representative  head  of  the  college.  President  McCosh  was  always  and 
everywhere  faithful  to  its  Christian  traditions.  By  his  writings,  lectures,  and 
addresses  he  defended  'Fundamental  truths'  in  religion  no  less  than  in  philosophy; 
he  vindicated  the  'Method  of  divine  government,'  physical  as  well  as  moral;  he  set 
foi"th  the  'Typical  forms  and  special  ends  iu  creation'  as  consistent  with  evolu- 
tion; he  showed  the  analogy  of  'The  natural  and  tlje  supernatural,'  and  he  main- 
tained a  logical  '  Realism'  and  '  Theism  '  against  the  growing  scepticism  of  the  day. 
At  the  same  time  his  discriminating  conservatism  was  ever  held  in  heartj^  sympathy 
with  the  modern  scientific  spirit  and  his  steadfast  adherence  to  the  principles  of 
evangelical  religion  never  narrowed  his  C  hristian  symjiathies.  A  leader  in  great 
international  alliances  and  councils  of  the  churches,  he  also  consistently  welcomed 
students  of  every  religious  denomination  to  their  chartered  privileges  within  our 
walls.     The  representatives  of  all  creeds  mingled  iu  his  funeral. 

"  While  a  commanding  figure  has  passed  from  jiublic  view,  there  remains  among 
ns,  Avho  were  his  nearer  associates,  the  charm  of  a  unique  personality  and  rare 
Christian  character,  to  be  henceforth  enshrined  in  our  memories  with  reverence  and 
affection. 

"To  his  bereaved  family  we  can  ouly  tender  our  deepest  sympathy,  praying  that 
they  may  receive  those  divine  consolations  Avhich  lie  himself  taught  during  his  life 
and  illustrated  iu  peaceful  death." 


&.:i 


Dr.    McCOSH. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  273 

point  of  ancestry  a  Covenanter,  by  birth  a  Lowland  Scotchman,  in  his  youth  a 
student  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  in  his  manhood  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  at  a  crisis  in  its  history,  and  in  that  crisis  an  important  figure,  AVither- 
si)oon  heading  the  opposition  to  moderatism  and  Dr.  McCosh  helping  to  form  the 
Free  Church.  When  already  past  the  meridian  of  life  each  of  them  came  to  America 
to  do  his  greatest  work  as  president  of  Princeton,  the  one  arriving  in  1768  and  the 
other  in  1868.  Though  of  different  degrees  of  eminence  in  different  particulars, 
they  were  nevertheless  of  fundamentally  the  same  character,  being  philosophers  of 
reality,  miuisters  of  evangelical  and  yet  catholic  spirit,  constructive  and  aggressive 
iu  temper,  stimulating  as  teachers,  stout  upholders  of  disciplinary  education,  men 
of  marked  personal  independence,  of  wide  interest  in  public  affairs  and  thoroughly 
patriotic  as  Americans.  The  principles  of  college  government  ou  which  Withcr- 
spoon  acted  Di.  McCosh  expressly  avowed.  "  These  principles,"  he  wrote,  "were  full 
of  wisdom,  tact,  and  kindness.  I,  without  knowing  tlieni  till  afterwards,  have 
endeavored  to  act  ou  the  same  princii^les,  but  more  imperfectly.  'Govern,'  said  he, 
'  govern  always,  but  beware  of  governing  too  much.'"'  Their  presidencies  were  long 
and  successful.  Each  lived  the  last  twenty-six  years  of  his  life  in  Princeton,  and  it 
may  be  noticed  as  a  striking  final  coincidence  that  they  passed  away  a  century 
apart,  almost  to  the  day — Witherspoou  dying  November  15,  1794,  and  Dr.  McCosh 
on  November  16,  1894. 

James  McCosh  was  born  April  1,  1811,  at  Carskeoch  Farm,  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  "  bonnie  Doon,"  just  above  the  village  of  Patna,  some  12  miles  from  Ayr,  the 
county  town  of  Ayrshire.  In  this  region,  so  full  of  inspiring  Scottish  memories,  his 
boyhood  was  spent,  and  iu  common  with  so  many  of  his  countrymen  who  have  risen 
to  fame  he  received  his  first  education  in  the  parochial  school.  In  1824,  when  but 
13  years  old,  he  entered  the  University  of  Glasgow,  an  institution  already  famous  in 
the  annals  of  the  Scottish  philosophy  for  the  teaching  of  Reid  and  Hutcheson — a  fit 
jilace  for  the  joung  student  to  begin,  who  was  later  to  write  the  history  of  the 
Scottish  school.  Here  he  remained  five  years.  In  1829  he  entered  the  llniversity  of 
Edinburgh,  coming  under  the  iufiuence  of  Thomas  Chalmeis  and  David  Welsh  in 
theology  and  of  Sir  William  Hamilton  iu  philosophy.  He  had  also  some  strong 
intellectual  compeers  among  the  students  of  that  time.  Such,  for  example,  was 
Tait,  afterwards  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Incidents  of  Dr.  McCosh's  youth  aud 
student  days  formed  the  basis  of  many  an  interesting  anecdote  in  his  later  years. 
Of  such  were  his  remembrances  as  a  boy  of  the  recurring  anniversaries  when  his 
elders  used  to  pledge  with  enthusiasm  "  the  memory  of  Bobbie  Burns."  At  other 
times  he  would  dwell  with  fondness  on  one  or  another  loved  feature  of  the  home 
scenery  of  Ayrshire  or  the  talk  of  its  people.  Tho  competition  for  intellectual 
honors  at  the  university  formed  another  theme.  Then,  too,  the  strong  impress  of 
Sir  William  Hamilton's  personality  as  well  as  of  his  teaching  was  one  of  those  things 
that  delighted  his  Princeton  pupils  to  notice,  especially  as  seen  in  the  way  he  treas- 
ured some  remark  of  his  great  teacher.  "Do  you  know  the  greatest  thing  he  ever 
said  to  me  ?  "  Dr.  McCosh  asked  one  day  of  the  writer.  "  It  was  this :  '  So  reason  as  to 
have  but  one  step  between  your  jtremisc  and  its  conclusion.' "  The  syllogism  unified 
aud  turned  into  a  rule  of  conduct !  Well  might  such  a  vigorous  maxim  take  the 
imperative  form.  And  how  vividly  real  it  made  the  act  of  reasoning  seem!  It  was 
toward  the  close  of  his  student  days  at  Edinburgh  that  Dr.  McCosh  wrote  his  essay 
entitled  "  The  Stoic  Philosophy,"  in  recognition  of  which  the  university,  upon  motion 
of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  master  of  arts. 

In  1835  he  was  licensed  as  a  minister  of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  same  year  he  was  elected  by  the  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion minister  of  the  Abbey  church  of  Arbroath,  the  "Fairport"  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's 
Antiquary,  a  flourishing  town  in  Forfarshire,  ou  the  eastern  coast,  16  miles  north 
of  Dundee.     While  in  this  parish  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 

'  John  AVitherspoou  and  his  Times,  Philadelphia,  1890. 
20(387— Xo.  23 18 


274  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Guthrie,  eight  years  his  seuior,  the  luiDistor  of  tlie  neighboring  parish  of  Arbilot, 
and  afterwards  so  celebrated  in  the  Ohl  Greyfriars  pulpit  in  Edinburgh.  They  were 
lielpfnl  to  each  other  in  tlieir  pastoral  work  and  counsel,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of 
a  group  of  ministers  who  met  to  discuss  with  earnestness  the  impending  dangers  to 
the  Church,  consequent  upon  "intrusion'"  of  ministers  upon  congregations  by  tlie 
Crown  irrespective  of  the  prefei-ence  of  the  people.  They  promptly  identified  tlieui- 
selves  with  the  view  that  this  subjection  of  the  Cliurch  to  the  Crown  was  to  be 
brought  to  an  end,  advocating,  as  Dr.  McCosh  had  already  done  in  his  Edinburgh 
student  days,  what  was  known  as  nonintrusion.  In  1838,  on  the  suggestion  of  Dr. 
AVelsh,  his  former  teacher,  Dr.  McCosh  was  appointed  by  the  Crown  to  the  charge 
of  the  Church  at  Brechin,  a  short  distance  from  Arbroath.  Brechin  was  an  attrac- 
tive old  cathedral  town,  with  a  large  outlying  country  parish.  In  this  arduous 
charge  he  labored  most  assiduously  in  company  with  his  colleague,  the  Rev.  A.  L.  R. 
Foote.  Besides  attending  to  his  stated  church  ministrations  and  the  regular  visit- 
ing of  its  congregation,  he  went  abroad  everywhere,  preaching  the  gospel  in  barns, 
kitchens,  and  taverns,  or  in  the  open  fields  and  wherever  else  he  could  do  good.' 
His  communion  roll  gradually  swelled  until  it  included  1,400  persons.  Meanwliile 
tlie  ecclesiastical  sky  was  darkening.  The  disruption  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
Avas  impending,  and  when  in  1843  it  had  become  inevitable.  Dr.  McCosh,  in  common 
Avith  liundreds  of  other  ministers,  surrendered  his  living.  He  at  once  i)roceeded  to 
organize  in  his  old  parish  a  congregation  of  the  Free  Church,  into  which  over  800 
of  his  former  parishioners  followed  him.  He  also  rendered  great  service  at  this 
crisis  by  organizing  new  congregations,  providing  them  with  preachers,  raising 
money  and  getting  sites  for  the  erection  of  new  churches.  "A  good  horseman,"  says 
one  of  his  best  newspaper  biographies,-  "he  rode  long  distances  from  place  to  place 
and  preached  in  barns,  ballrooms,  or  fields,  as  Avas  found  necessary."  In  1843  and 
the  following  year  he  Avas  a  member  of  one  of  the  deputations  appointed  by  the 
general  assembly  to  Aisit  various  parts  of  England  and  arouse  noncon'brmist  inter- 
est in  the  position  of  the  Free  Church.  In  184.5  he  was  married  at  Brechin  to  Miss 
Isabella  Guthrie,  daughter  of  the  physician,  James  Guthrie,  and  niece  of  Thomas 
Guthrie,  his  friend  in  his  early  ministry  at  Arbroath. 

In  this  round  of  actiA'e  life,  Avith  all  its  details  and  distractions,  he  kej)t  aliA'e  his 
philosophical  thinking,  and  in  1850  published  at  Edinburgh  Ids  Method  of  the  Divine 
GoA'ernment,  Pliysical  and  Moral.-'     It  was  most  favorably  reviewed  by  Hugh  Miller 

'  Disruption  Worthies :  A  Memorial  of  1843.  Edinburgh  and  London,  1881.  The 
sketch  of  Dr.  McCosh,  written  by  Prof.  George  Macloskie,  is  found  on  pp.  343-348. 

2  The  Scotsman,  Edinburgh,  November  IP,  1894. 

='No  sooner  did  McCosh's  heavy  though  pleasant  labor  in  founding  congregations 
of  the  Free  Church  relax  a  little  than  he  began  the  composition  of  The  Method  of 
the  Divine  Government,  Pliysical  and  Moral.  During  the  period  of  Avriting  the 
author  received  much  encomagemeut  from  his  intimate  college  friend,  William 
Hanna.  It  was  he,  likewise,  Avho  aided  in  the  Avork  incidental  to  publication.  The 
author  showed  his  book  in  manuscript  to  Dr.  Cunningham  and  Dr.  James  Buchanan. 
Both  ajjproved,  and  the  latter  suggested  some  changes,  which  were  adopted.  The 
volume  was  ])ublished  in  18.50,  and  through  Dr.  Guthrie  coi)ies  Avere  sent  to  the  two 
Scotchmen  theu  most  eminent  in  the  Avorld  of  abstract  thought,  Sir  William  Ham- 
ilton and  Hugh  Miller.  The  former  announced  his  decision  at  once:  "It  is  refresh- 
ing to  read  a  Avork  so  distinguished  for  originality  and  soundness  of  thinlciug, 
especially  as  coming  from  an  author  of  our  own  country.''  Hugh  Miller  said  in  llic 
Witness  that  the  work  was  of  the  compact  and  tlionght-eliciting  complexion  whith 
men  do  not  Avillingly  let  die.  The  first  edition  Avas  exhausted  in  six  months.  .\n 
American  edition  Avas  published  very  soon  afterwards,  and  that,  too,  sold  rapidly. 
The  book  passed  through  tAventy  editions  in  less  than  forty  years  and  still  has  a  sale 
in  both  Great  Britain  and  in  America.  Time,  therefore,  may  be  said  to  liaA'e  ])assed 
its  judgment  upon  the  Divine  GoA-ernment. — Prof.  W.  M.  Sloane's  Life  of  McCosh. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  275 

and  commended  by  Sir  William  Hamiltou.  It  brought  him  at  once  into  promi- 
nence as  a  pliilo8oi)hic  ^Yriter  of  thought  and  clearness.'  The  story  goes  that 
Earl  Clarendon,  then  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  sitting-  down  to  read  a  copy  one 
Sunday  morning,  became  so  absorbed  in  the  book  that  he  missed  going  to 
church,  and  read  on  till  evening  without  stopping,  and  soon  after  offered  Dr.  Mc- 
Cosh  the  chair  of  logic  and  metaphysics  in  the  newly  founded  Queen's  Col- 
lege, in  Belfast.     Dr.  McCosh  accepted  the  offer,  removing  to  Belfast  in  1852,  and 

'  The  real  importance  of  Dr.  McCosh's  work  in  philosophy  was  to  a  great  extent 
obscured  during  his  life  by  a  certain  lack  of  appreciation,  of  which  he  occasionally 
complained.  "  They  won't  give  me  a  hearing,"'  he  would  say,  somewhat  mournfully. 
And  then  he  would  cheer  up  under  the  assuring  conviction  that  realism,  as  it  was 
the  first,  would  also  be  the  final,  i)hilosophy.  Dr.  McCosh's  position  in  philosophy 
suffered  during  his  life  from  a  kind  of  reaction  against  the  Scottish  school,  which 
had  set  in  with  Mill's  destructive  criticism  of  Hamilton.  It  was  also  materially 
affected  by  the  strong  movement  in  the  direction  of  evolutionary  empiricism,  of 
which  Herbert  Speucer  was  the  exponent  and  leader.  The  doguuitic  and  i>ositive 
tone  of  Dr.  McCosh  himself  had  doubtless  something  to  do  with  the  tendency  to 
undervalue  his  work.  There  are  other  circumstances  which  must  not  be  overlooked 
in  estimating  the  value  of  Dr.  McCosh's  philosophy.  It  scarcely  ever  happens  that 
a  man  is  the  best  jnd^e  of  his  own  work,  or  that  the  things  on  which  he  puts  the 
greatest  stress  possess  the  most  permanent  value.  Much  of  Dr.  McCosh's  work  is  of 
a  transitional  character.  His  whole  attitude  toward  evolution,  for  examjile,  is  that 
of  a  transitional  thinker,  and  although  hospitable  to  the  new,  maintains,  on  the 
whole,  the  old  points  of  view.  Dr.  McCosh,  it  may  be  said,  accepted  evolution  i^ro- 
visionally,  but  he  could  scarcely  be  called  an  evolutionary  thinker.  Again,  it  is  true 
of  Dr.  McCosh,  as  of  most  other  men,  that  the  principle  and  content  of  his  work 
must  be  distinguished  from  the  form  in  which  he  embodied  it.  Generallj'  it  is  a 
failure  to  distinguish  the  principle  from  the  accidental  form  that  constitutes  one  of 
the  greatest  limitations  of  any  thinker.  This  is  certainly  true  of  Dr.  McCosh.  The 
essence  of  all  his  doctrines  was  so  associated  in  his  mind  with  a  certain  mode  of  con- 
ceiving and  stating  them  as  to  make  the  form  seem  essential  to  the  doctrine.  An 
example  of  this  is  his  theory  of  natural  realism  in  the  sphere  of  perception,  in  which 
a  certain  mode  of  apprehending  the  object  was  deemed  essential  to  the  assertion  of 
reality  itself.  Leaving  out  of  view,  however,  accidental  features  and  elements  of  a 
merely  transitional  character,  it  seems  to  me  that  Dr.  McCosh  has  contributed  sev- 
eral elements  of  distinct  value  to  the  thinking  of  his  time.  One  of  these  is  to  be 
found  in  his  treatment  of  the  intuitions.  At  the  time  Dr.  McCosh  first  became  inter- 
ested in  the  problems  of  speculation,  intuitionism  hail  suffered  a  kind  of  eclipse  in 
the  writings  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  whose  attempt  to  combine  Scottish  episte- 
mology  with  Kantian  metaphysics  had  resulted  in  a  purely  negative  theory  of  such 
intuitive  principles,  for  example,  as  causality.  Dr.  McCosh  harked  back  to  Reid  and 
reasserted  the  pure  Scottish  position  against  the  unnatural  hybrid  of  the  Hamil- 
tonian  metaphysics.  But  he  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  simply  a  reasserter  of  Reid. 
His  wide  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  philosophy,  as  well  as  his  keener  faculty 
of  criticism,  led  to  a  more  careful  and  discriminating  analysis  of  the  intuitive  i)rin- 
ciples  of  the  mind  as  well  as  to  a  more  philosophical  statement  of  them.  He  also 
connected  them  with  the  three  eiiislemological  functions  of  cognition,  judgment, 
and  belief,  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  them  into  closer  relation  with  experience,  and 
by  recognizing  a  distinction  between  their  cognitive  and  rational  forms  to  admit  the 
agency  of  an  empirical  process  in  their  passage  from  the  singular  to  the  more  gen- 
eral stage  of  their  apprehension.  Of  course,  where  the  reality  of  iutuitive  princi- 
ples is  denied,  Dr.  McCosh's  iuterpretation  of  them  will  not  be  appreciated.  But 
inasmuch  as  the  affirmation  of  native  elements  in  some  form  is  likely  to  continue, 
the  contribution  of  Dr.  McCosh  to  intuitional  thinking  is  likely  to  be  one  of  perma- 
nent value.     The  one  point  on  which  Dr.  McCosh  was  most  strenuous  was  that  of 


276  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

coutinuing  there  until  lie  came  to  Princeton.  His  class  room  was  notable  in  many 
^ays — for  his  brilliant  lecturing,  his  interesting  method  of  questioning,  his  solici- 
tude for  his  students,  and  their  enthusiasm  for  him.  Besides  fulfilling  his'  regu- 
lar duties,  he  served  as  an  examiner  for  the  Queen's  University  of  Ireland,  as  a 
member  of  the  distinguished  board  of  examiners  who  organized  the  first  comjietitive 
examinations  for  the  civil  service  of  India,  and  as  an  examiner  for  the  Furgnsson 

realism.  He  had  a  kind  of  phobia  of  all  idealistic  or  phenomenal  theories.  This 
rendered  him  somewhat  unduly  impatient  of  these  theories,  and  they  sometimes 
received  scant  justice  at  his  hands.  But  whatever  his  fixilings  as  a  critic,  there  was 
no  ambiguity  about  his  own  point  of  view.  He  was  the  doughtiest  kind  of  a  realist, 
ready  at  all  times  to  break  a  lance  in  defense  of  his  belief.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  in 
estimating  the  value  of  Dr.  McCosh's  work,  it  is  necessary  to  observe  the  distinction 
between  the  principle  and  the  form  of  his  doctrine.  Perhaps  few  thinkers  at  pres- 
ent would  accept  the  unmodified  form  of  his  realism.  But  the  positions  he  had 
most  at  heart,  namely,  that  philosophy  must  start  with  reality  if  it  would  end  with 
it,  and  that  jihilosophy  misses  its  aim  if  it  misses  reality  and  stops  in  the  negations 
of  positivism  or  Kantism — these  are  positions  which  a  very  wide  school  of  thinkers 
have  very  much  at  heart.  Dr.  McCosh's  realism  is  a  tonic  which  invigorates  the 
spirit  that  comes  into  contact  with  it  and  indisposes  it  to  any  sort  of  indolent 
ac(iuiescence  in  a  negative  creed.  In  harking  back  to  Reid,  Dr.  McCosh  was  recog 
nizing  intellectual  kinship  in  more  ways  than  one.  The  spirit  of  Reid,  while  pretty 
positive  and  dogmatic,  was  also  inductive  and  observational.  Reid  hated  specula- 
tion, and  would  not  employ  it  except  at  the  behest  of  practical  needs.  Dr.  McCosh 
was  a  man  of  kindred  spirit.  His  distrust  of  speculation  amounted  at  times,  I  think, 
to  a  positive  Aveakness.  But  his  shrewd  common  sense,  combined  with  a  genius  for 
observation  and  an  intense  love  of  fact,  constituted  perhaps  the  most  marked  quality 
of  his  mind.  It  has  k«pt  his  work  fresh  and  interesting,  packed  his  books  with  new 
and  interesting  facts  and  shrewd  observations,  and  has  made  them  rich  treasure 
lionses  for  those  who  come  after  him.  This  is  especially  true  in  his  psychological 
work.  Here,  where  on  account  of  the  rapid  advance  of  psychology  in  both  method 
and  content,  the  results  of  his  generation  of  workers  are  fast  becoming  inadequate 
to  the  new  demands,  it  ought  not  to  bo  forgotten  that  Dr.  McCosh  was  almost  the 
pioneer  of  a  new  departure  in  psychology  in  this  country;  that  his  was  the  most 
potent  in  the  advocacy  of  that  marriage  of  the  old  science  of  introspection  with 
physiology,  out  of  which  the  new  physiological  psychology  arose;  that  his  example 
was  potent  in  advocating  the  substitution  of  an  observational  for  a  closet  psychol- 
ogy ;  and  that  while  he  contributed  little  to  experimental  resiilts,  the  iutinence  of  his 
spirit  and  teaching  was  strongly  favorable  to  them.  Perhaps  in  the  end  it  will  be 
seen  that  Dr.  McCosh  rendered  his  most  lasting  service  in  the  sphere  of  religious 
thought.  In  view  of  the  tendency  in  many  quarters  to  divorce  philosophy  from 
religion  and  insist  that  philosophy  has  no  legitimate  interest  in  the  problems  of 
religion,  the  attitude  of  Dr.  McCosh  is  reassuring.  That  the  problems  of  religion 
are  the  sui)reme  and  final  questions  in  philosophy,  and  that  no  philosophy  is  ade- 
quate that  is  unable  to  find  some  rational  justification,  at  least  for  a  theistic  view 
of  the  world — these  Avere  points  on  which  he  insisted  as  cardinal.  Dr.  McCosh  was 
a  profound  thinker  who  saw  clearly  tho  necessity  of  a  metaphysical  groundwork  of 
both  morals  and  relii^ion.  His  own  theistic  conviction  was  at  all  times  firm  and 
unclouded.  But  aside  from  the  form  of  his  individual  beliefs  his  insistence  on  the 
questions  of  God's  existence  and  man's  relation  to  Him  as  tho  vitalest  issues  of  phi- 
losophy, contains  an  important  lesson  for  the  time.  In  this  connection,  also,  his 
relation  to  the  evolution  theory  is  noteworthy.  It  was  in  the  religious  aspect  of 
this  theory,  and  especially  its  bearing  on  theism,  that  he  was  most  vitally  inter- 
ested. He  early  saw  that  a  theistic  conception  of  development  was  possible,  and 
this  prevented  him  from  adopting  the  view  of  its  extreme  opponents  and  condemning 
it  as  necessarily  atheistic  and  irreligious.     He  maintained  the  possibility  of  con- 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  277 

scholarsbips,  open  to  graduates  of  Scottish  uuivcrsities.  '  In  1858  he  visited  tlie 
principal  schools  and  universities  of  Prussia,  carefully  acciuaintiug  himself  with 
theirorganizatiou  aud  methods,  and  publishing  his  opinions  regarding  them  in  1859. 
It  was  at  Belfast  he  brought  out  his  Examination  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill's  Philosophy, 
Typical  Forms  and  Special  Ends  in  Creation  (in  conjunction  with  Prof.  George 
Dickie),  The  Intniiious  of  the  Mind,  -  and  the  Supernatural  in  Relation  to  the  Natu- 
ral, lu  his  church  relations  he  was  both  an  active  promoter  of  evangelical  piety 
and  an  efficient  helper  in  ecclesiastical  counsels.  He  helped  to  organize  the  minis- 
terial support  fund  of  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Church,  seeking  to  evoke  liberality 
and  self-sui>port  in  view  of  the  coming  disendowment.  In  the  face  of  much  oppo- 
sition he  advocated  giving  up  the  Regium  Donum.  Arguments  he  used  in  this  dis- 
cussion were  afterwards  influential  with  Mr.  Gladstone  iu  connection  with  the 
disestablishment  of  the  Church  of  Ireland.  '     He  advocated  a  system  of  intermediate 

ceiving  evolution  from  a  theistic  basis  as  a  feature  of  the  method  of  Divine  govern- 
ment, and  this  led  him  to  take  a  hospitable  attitude  toward  the  evolution  idea, 
•while  at  the  same  time  it  enabled  him  to  become  the  most  formidable  critic  of 
evolution  in  its  really  atheistic  and  irreligious  forms.  This  treatment  of  the  jiroblem 
of  evolution  by  a  religious  thinker  possesses  more  than  a  transitional  value.  It 
correctly  embodies,  I  think,  the  wisest  and  most  pliilosophical  attitude  which  a 
religious  mind  can  take  toward  the  advances  of  science  during  that  period  of  uncer- 
tainty which  ordinarily  precedes  the  linal  adjustm<'nt  of  the  new  into  the  framework 
of  established  truth.  On  the  question  of  Dr.  McCosh's  originality,  I  think  this  may 
be  said  :  While  it  is  true  that  he  has  added  no  distinctively  new  idea  to  X)hilosophy, 
yet  his  work  possesses  originality  in  that  it  not  only  responded  to  the  demands  of 
the  time,  but  also  bears  the  stamp  of  the  author's  striking  aud  powerful  individual- 
ity. The  form  of  Dr.  jNIcCosh's  discussions  is  always  fresh,  characteristic,  and  orig- 
inal. He  was  an  original  worker  in  that  his  work  bore  the  stamp  of  his  time  and 
]iersonality  and  constituted  part  and  parcel  of  the  living  energy  of  his  generation. — 
Prof.  A.  T.  Ormond. 

'  The  Northern  Whig,  Belfast,  November  19,  1894. 

^Tlie  positive  characterization  of  modern  Princeton  must  begin  with  a  descri^jtion 
of  its  dominant  mode  of  thinking,  which  is  the  philosophical.  This  is  one  of  our 
many  inheritances  from  Dr.  McCosli.  So  habituated  to  this  habit  of  mind  is  Iho 
Princeton  teacher  that  he  hardly  realizes  the  strength  of  this  prevailing  tendency. 
A  Harvard  man  is  apt  to  measure  things  bj'  literary  standards,  and  a  Harvard  grad- 
uate who  comes  as  an  instructor  to  Princeton  is  apt  t)  be  surprised  to  lind  how 
pervasive  and  all  but  universal  is  this  philosophical  tem^ier  here.  It  is  this  cast  or 
mode  of  thinking,  rather  than  strict  uniformity  in  philosophical  beliefs,  which  is 
the  most  striking  feature  of  the  university's  intellectual  life.  Traditionally,  Prince- 
ton is  commiited  to  a  realistic  metaphysics  as  opposed  to  agnosticism,  materialism, 
or  idealism.  The  far-reaching  importance  of  the  last  is,  indeed,  admitted,  but  the 
maturer  judgment  of  Princeton's  philosophers  inclines  to  the  acknowledgment  of 
"a  refractory  element "'  in  experience,  whicli,  while  "  without  form  and  void,"  unless 
enmeshed  in  the  categories  of  reason,  refuses  "  wholly  to  merge  its  being  in  a  net- 
work of  relations."  They  prefer,  therefore,  to  admit  the  existence  of  an  impasse  to 
a  comjjlete  intellectual  unification  of  the  universe,  than  to  purchase  metaphysical 
unity  at  the  cost  of  surrendering  the  judgments  of  common  sense,  and  at  tlie  risk  of 
discovering  that  the  hoped-for  treasure  is  but  dross  at  the  last. — Prof.  W.  M.  Daniels, 
the  Cj  itic,  October  24,  1896. 

3  When  the  right  time  arrived,  Dr.  McCosli  lectured  and  wrote  iu  favor  of  dises- 
tablishment and  disendowment,  and  argued  from  his  experience  in  Scotland  for  the 
inauguration  of  a  sustentation  fund  by  the  Irish  Presbyterians.  This  was  the  open- 
ing of  a  struggle  which  ended  in  the  carrying  out  of  all  his  views,  greatly  to  the 
furtherance  of  religion,  as  the  jieojjle  of  Ireland  now  confess. — Prof.  George  Macloskie 
in  Sloane's  Life  of  ilcCosh,  pp.  120,  121. 


278  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

scbools  to  prepare  for  higher  iustitutious  of  learning,  and  particularly  labored  for 
the  great  cause  of  a  general  system  of  national  elementary  schools.  His  own  pupils 
attained  marked  success  in  the  examinations  for  the  civil  service,  and  some  of  them 
became  very  eminent,  one  of  them  being  Sir  Robert  Hart,  the  jiresent  chief  of  the 
Chinese  customs  service.  He  was  not  a  man  who  could  be  hid,  and  so  there  is  little 
to  wonder  at  in  the  distinction  he  earned,  whether  evidenced  by  the  respect  of 
men  like  Chalmers,  Guthrie,  Hugh  Miller,  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Dean  Mansel,  the 
present  Duke  of  Argyll,  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  the  kindly  humor  of  Thackeray  or  the 
flings  of  Ruskin  and  sharp  rejoinders  of  John  Stuart  Mill. 

Dr.  McCosh  paid  his  first  visit  to  America  in  1866,  receiving  a  hearty  welcome. 
In  June,  1868,  he  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  Princeton.  He  accepted  the  call 
after  due  deliberation,  and  arrived  at  Princeton  October  22  of  the  same  year.  The 
story  of  the  low  condition  of  Princeton  at  that  time,  consequent  upon  the  civil  war, 
does  not  need  to  be  told  here.  So  far  as  equipment  and  numbers  can  speak,  the  tale 
is  soon  told.  Excejitiug  a  few  jirofessors'  houses,  there  are  now  on  the  campus  only 
six  buildings  which  were  owned  by  the  college  when  Dr.  McCosh  arrived.  They 
are  Nassau  Hall,  the  old  president's  (now  the  dean's)  house,  the  old  chapel,  thi-.  col- 
lege ofdces,  east  college,  and  west  college.  There  were  but  16  instructors  iu  the 
faculty,  and  about  250  students. 

The  institution  "was  depleted,  salaries  were  low,  and  academic  standards  had  suf- 
fered, both  in  the  way  of  scholarshij)  and  discipline.  It  had  been  a  discouraging 
time  iu  Princeton's  history,  and  the  self-denial  of  President  Maclean  and  the  baiid. 
of  professors  who  went  with  the  college  through  the  war  has  been  only  too  slightly- 
appreciated.  The  "writer  entered  Princeton  as  a  freshman  in  January,  1870,  when 
the  beginnings  of  Dr.  McCosh's  power  were  being  manifested.  His  influence  was 
like  an  electric  shock,  instantaneous,  paralyzing  to  opposition  and  stimulating  to  all 
who  were  not  paralyzed.  Old  student  disorders  were  taken  in  hand  and  throttled 
after  a  hard  struggle,  outdoor  sports  and  gymnastics  were  developed  as  aids  to  aca- 
demic order,  strong  jirofessors  were  added,  the  course  of  study  was  both  deepened  and 
widened,  the  ever-present  energy  of  Dr.  McCosh  was  daily  in  evidence,  and  great 
gifts  were  coming  in.  Everyone  felt  the  new  life.  When  the  Bonuer-Marquand 
Gymnasium  was  opened  iu  1870,  the  students'  cheering  was  enough  to  rend  the  roof. 
It  was  more  than  cheering  for  the  new  gymnasium — it  was  for  the  new  era. 

It  is  not  possible  in  this  sketch  to  tell  the  story  of  the  twenty  years  from  1868  to 
1888,  but  the  results  may  be  indicated.'     The  campus  was  enlarged  and  converted. 

'  A  member  of  the  first  class  that  entered  Princeton  nuder  the  presidency  of  Dr. 
McCosh,  I  am  called  here  to  speak  not  for  myself  alone,  but  in  the  name  of  2,000 
old  pupils  who  would  pay  the  tribute  of  honor  and  love  to  the  memory  of  our  grand 
old  man.  Y\"e  loved  him  because  he  loved  Princeton.  He  was  born  in  Scotland, 
but  he  was  born  an  American  and  Princetonian.  If  you  could  have  opened  his 
heart  yoii  would  have  found  Princeton  written  there.  He  was  firmly  convinced 
that  his  college,  with  its  history,  its  traditions,  and  its  Christian  faith,  was  predes- 
tined to  become  one  of  the  great  American  universities.  "It  is  the  will  of  God,"  he 
said,  "and  I  will  do  it."  A  noble  man,  with  a  noble  purpose,  makes  noble  friends. 
Enthusiasm  is  contagious.  Dr.  McCosh  laid  the  foundation  of  Princeton  University 
bi'oad  and  deep  and  strong,  and  he  left  behind  him  a  heritage  of  enthusiasm,  a 
Princetonian  spirit  which  will  complete  his  work  and  never  fail.  AYe  love  him 
because  he  loved  truth,  and  welcomed  it  froui  whatever  (piarter  of  the  wide  heaven 
it  might  come.  He  had  great  confidence  in  God  as  the  source  of  truth  and  the 
eternal  defender  of  His  true  W^ord.  He  did  not  conceive  that  anything  would  be 
discovered  Avhich  God  had  not  made.  He  did  not  suppose  that  anything  would  be 
evolved  which  God  had  not  intended  from  the  beginning.  The  value  of  his  philoso- 
phy of  common  sense  was  very  great.  But  he  taught  his  students  something  far 
more  precious — to  love  realitj'  in  religion  as  iu  science,  to  respect  all  honest  work 
and  to  reverence  every  fact  of  nature  and  consciousness  as  a  veritable  revelation 
from  Almighty  God. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  A" an  Dyke's  address  at  Dr.  McCosh's 
burial. 


PRINCETON    UNIA^ERSITY.  279 

iuto  a  splendid  park,  every  detail  of  couveuieuee  aud  beauty  being  consulted  in  the 
transformation.'  The  old  walks  were  replaced  with  something  snbitautial,  grading 
and  planting  were  carried  ont  on  an  extensive  scale,  the  drainage  was  remodeled, 
and  many  other  snch  things,  w^hich  seem  small  separately,  but  mean  so  much  col- 
lectively, were  attended  to.  The  following  buildings  were  added:  The  Halsted 
observatory  in  1869,  the  gymnasium  in  1869-70,  Reunion  Hall  and  Dickinson  Hall  in 
1870,  the  Chancellor  Green  library  and  the  John  C.  Green  school  of  science  in  1873, 
I'niversity  Hall  in  1876,  Witherspoon  Hall  in  1877,  the  observatory  of  instruction  in 
1878,  Murray  Hall  in  1879,  Edwards  Hall  in  1880,  the  ^Nlarquand  Chapel  in  1881,  the 
biological  laboratory  in  1887,  and  the  art  museum  about  the  same  time.  The  admin- 
istrative side  of  the  college  was  invigorated  in  many  ways,  a  dean  being  added  to 
the  executive  officering  in  1883.  The  faculty  was  gradually  Ituilt  up  by  importa- 
tion of  professors  from  other  institutions,  aud  afterwards  by  training  Princeton  men 
as  well.  Twenty-four  of  Dr.  McCosh's  pupils  are  now  in  the  faculty.  The  course 
of  study  was  revised  and  made  modern,  without  giving  up  the  historical  essentials 
of  liberal  education.  Elective  studies  were  introduced  and  developed,  aud  the 
relating  of  the  elective  to  the  prescribed  studies  iu  one  harmonious  system  was 
always  kept  iu  view.  To  the  old  academic  course  of  four  years,  leading  to  the 
degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,  courses  leading  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  science  and 
civil  engineer  were  added,  and  graduate  courses  leading  to  the  university  degrees 
of  doctor  of  philosophy  and  doctor  of  science  were  organized.-  The  entrance 
requirements  were  improved  iu  quality  and  were  exacted  with  more  firmness.  The 
interior  relations  of  the  various  departments  of  study  to  each  other  and  to  the 
general  culture  of  the  student  were  gradually  better  adjusted,  and  beginnings 
of  specialized  study  founded  on  general  culture  were  instituted.  The  use  of  the 
library  was  made  of  importance  as  a  help  to  the  students'  regular  class  work. 
The  two  literary  societies.  Whig  and  Clio,  were  relieved  of  the  distress  under 
which  they  had  suffered  from  secret  societies,  by  exterminating  these  societies, 
and  helped  in  their  friendly  rivalry  by  the  establishment  of  additional  college 
honors  open  to  their  competition.  Old  class  room  and  chapel  disorders  slowly  ga\'e 
way  before  better  building-;  and  improved  instruction.  Useful  auxiliaries  to  the 
curriculum  were  encouraged,  and,  in  particular,  the  president's  "library  meeting" 
was  started.     Here,  month  after  month,  the  upper  classmen  met  in  large  numbers  to 

'"I  remember,"  said  Dr.  McCosli,  "the  first  view  which  I  got  of  the  pleasant 
height  on  which  the  college  stands,  the  highest  ground  between  the  tAvo  great  cities 
of  the  Union,  looking  down  on  a  rich  country,  covered  with  wheat  and  corn,  with 
apples  and  peaches,  resembling  the  south  of  England  as  much  as  one  country  can 
be  like  another.  Now  we  see  that  height  covered  with  buildings  not  inferior  to 
those  of  any  other  college  iu  America.  I  have  had  great  pleasure  in  my  hours  of 
relaxation  in  laying  out — always  assisted  by  the  late  Rev.  William  Harris,  the 
treasurer  of  the  college — the  grounds  aud  walks,  and  locating  the  buildings.  I 
have  laid  them  out  somewhat  on  the  model  of  the  demesnes  of  English  noblemen. 
I  have  always  been  healthiest  when  so  employed.  I  remember  the  days,  sunshiny  or 
cloudy,  in  April  and  November,  on  which  I  cut  down  dozens  of  deformed  trees  and 
shrubs  and  planted  large  numbers  of  new  ones  which  will  li\e  wheu  I  am  dead.  I 
do  not  believe  that  I  will  be  allowed  to  come  back  from  the  other  world  to  this;  but 
if  this  were  permitted  I  might  be  allured  to  visit  these  scenes  so  dear  to  me,  and  to 
see  the  tribes  on  a  morning  go  up  to  the  house  of  God  in  companies."' — Life  of  Dr. 
McCosh,  pp.  195,  196. 

^Indeed,  the  traditional  university  constitution — a  semimonastic  life,  fixed  terms 
of  college  residence,  adherence  to  old  academic  custom,  and  a  hierarchy  of  degrees — 
is  found  nowhere  in  more  vigor  than  at  Princet<m.  The  true  future  of  Princeton 
lies  not  in  the  develoi)ment  of  professional  schools  nor  in  the  pursuit  of  utilitarian 
studies,  but  in  both  tlie  college  and  the  gi-aduate  department  is  inseparably  bound 
up  with  the  cause  of  pure  academic  culture  and  learning. — Prof.  W.  M.  Daniels, 
The  Critic,  October  24,  1896. 


280  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

hear  some  paper  by  Dr.  McCosh,  some  professor  from  Priucetou  or  elsewhere,  some 
bright  alumnus  or  scholar  attached  to  a  university.  Distinguished  strangers  got 
into  the  habit  of  coming  to  see  the  college,  and  such  visits  as  those  of  General  Grant 
and  other  American  dignitaries,  and  of  the  German  professors  Dorner  and  Christ- 
lieb,  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  of  Froude,  and  of  Matthew  Arnold  were  greatly  enjoyed. 
And  so  by  slowly  working  agencies  a  change  in  the  way  of  growth,  now  rapid  and 
now  apparently  checked,  was  taking  place.  The  impoverished  small  college  was 
being  renovated,  uplifted,  and  expanded;  it  was  put  on  its  way  toward  a  university 
life.'  Its  faculty  and  students  increased,  until  in  1888  the  16  instructors  had  become 
a  body  of  43  and  the  students  were  over  600.  Yet  tliis  gratifying  increase  is  not  the 
great  thing.  It  might  have  come  and  amounted  to  little  more  than  a  dili'usion  of 
weakness.  But  it  was  qualitative  as  well  as  quantitative,  for  the  college  was 
steadily  producing  men,  and  a  body  of  men  having  an  intense  esprit  du  corps  of 
great  value  for  the  future  solidarity  of  Princeton;  for  Dr.  McCosh  not  only  left  his 
indelible  mark  upon  them  singly,  but  fused  their  youthful  enthusiasms  into  one 
mastering  passion  for  Priucetou  as  a  coming  university,  democratic  in  its  student 
life,  moved  by  the  ideas  of  discipline  and  duty,  unitied  in  its  intellectual  culture, 
open  to  llie  core.  His  relations  with  the  students  were  intimate  and  based  on  his 
fixed  conviction  that  upon  them  ultimately  rested  the  fate  of  Princeton.  This  con- 
viction meant  more  than  that  he  saw  in  young  men  the  coming  men.  "A  college 
depends,"  he  once  said,  "not  on  its  president  or  trustees  or  professors,  but  on  the 
character  of  the  students  and  the  homes  they  come  from.  If  these  change,  nothing 
can  stop  the  college  changing."  To  his  eyes  the  movement  that  determined  every- 
thing was  the  movement  from  below  upward  and  outward,  and  the  business  of  presi- 
dent, trustees,  and  professors  was  to  make  this  mass  of  raw  material  into  the  best 
product  possible;  but,  first  of  all,  the  material  must  be  sound  if  there  is  to  be  success 
in  the  product.     The  philosopher  of  elemental  realty-  was  never  more  true  to  his 

'"I  think  it  proper  to  state,"  wrote  Dr.  McCosh,  "that  I  meant  all  along  that 
these  new  and  varied  studies,  with  their  groupings  and  combinations,  should  lead  to 
the  formation  of  a  studium  generale,  which  was  su^tposed  in  the  middle  ages  to  con- 
stitute a  university.  At  one  time  I  cherished  a  hope  that  I  might  be  honored  to 
introduce  such  a  measure.  P^rom  my  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  system  of 
Princeton  and  other  colleges,  I  was  so  vain  as  to  think  that  out  of  our  available 
materials  I  could  have  constructed  a  university  of  a  high  order.  I  would  have 
embraced  in  it  all  that  is  good  in  our  college;  iu  particular,  I  would  have  seen  that 
it  was  pervaded  with  religion,  as  the  college  is.  I  was  sure  that  such  a  step  would 
have  been  followed  by  a  large  outllow  of  liberality  on  the  part  of  the  public,  such  as 
we  enjoyed  iu  the  early  days  of  my  ])residency.  We  had  had  the  ft>rmer  rain,  and  I 
hoped  we  might  have  the  latter  rain,  and  we  could  have  given  the  institution  a 
wnler  range  of  usefulness  in  the  introduction  of  new  branches  and  the  extension  of 
post-graduate  studies.  But  this  privilege  has  been  denied  me." — Life  of  McCosh, 
pp.  213,  214. 

-  The  last  remark  by  Dr.  McCosh  in  this  chapel  was  a  memorable  one.  It  was  given 
several  years  ago,  on  a  Sunday  evening,  in  the  simple  religious  service  held  here  iu 
the  close  of  the  day.  He  had  been  asked  repeatedly  once  more  to  preach  in  the 
pulpit  from  which  he  had  so  often  spoken,  but  had  declined,  from  a  fear  that  he 
might  not  be  able  to  endure  the  strain.  This  simple  and  less  exhausting  service  he 
readily  undertook.  On  the  occasion  to  which  1  refer  he  read  with  a  touching 
eniphasis  St.  J^aul's  13th  chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  tliat  wonderful  chapter  in 
which  the  apostle  discourses  on  charity.  Having  eiuled  tlie  reading,  he  gave  a  brief 
analysis  of  its  points,  remarking  on  the  great  climax  of  the  last  verse,  "And  now 
abideth  faith,  hope,  and  charity;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity."  Then  he 
announced  his  purpose  of  saying  a  few  words  on  the  tirst  clause  of  the  9th  verse,  and 
read  it  slowly;  and  those  who  heard  it  will  not  forget  the  scene  as  he  said,  "For  wo 
know  in  part,"'  instantly  adding  with  an  almost  triiimph.mt  tone,  "  But  we  know." — 
Dr.  .laiues  O.  Murrav. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  281 

principles  than  just  here.  Given,  however,  a  body  of  students  of  souud  stock,  he 
felt  sure  the  desired  results  in  their  discipline  and  culture  were  obtainable  by  intel- 
ligent and  patient  treatment.  First  of  all,  as  the  negative  condition  of  success,  he 
insisted  that  idleness  be  done  away  with,  otherwise  nothing  could  be  done  to  coun- 
teract the  positive  Aices  to  ^vhich  idleness  gives  occasion,  aiul  nothing  to  develop 
the  mind  by  wholesome  exercise.  Next  on  his  programme  came  an  orderly  and  reg- 
ular course  of  study  to  be  pursued  by  the  student  without  faltering.  Then,  in  order 
to  bind  all  the  student'p  life  into  one  and  place  him  in  the  right  direction,  he 
depended  upon  the  sense  of  moral  responsibility,  quickened  and  energized  by 
Christian  truth.' 

It  was  a  simple  programme,  and  great  as  it  was  simple.-'  His  capacity  for  detail 
was  marvelous,  and  hence  he  could  meet  special  individual  needs  as  well  as  jilau  on 
the  general  scale.  It  seems  as  though  his  sanity  of  judgment  and  constant  endeavor 
to  develop  normal  character  was  the  very  thing  that  enabled  him  to  recognize  the 
kind  and  extent  of  departure  from  the  normal  standard  in  any  student  at  any  stage 
of  development.  Once  he  met  a  rather  pompous  undergraduate,  who  announced 
with  some  imi>ressiveness  that  he  could  no  longer  stay  in  the  church  of  his 
fathers,  as  he  needed  something  more  satisfying,  and  that  he  felt  it  proper  to 
acquaint  Dr.  McCosh  with  the  great  fact.  The  sole  reply  was,  ''You'll  do  no  such 
thing."  And  so  it  turned  out.  In  answer  to  a  cautiously  worded  long  question  iiut 
by  a  member  of  the  faculty,  in  order  to  discover  whether  some  one  charged  with  a 
certain  duty  had  actually  performed  it,  the  answer  came  like  a  shot,  "He  did."  No 
more!     How  short  he  could  be!     To  an  instructor  in  philosophy  whom  he  wished  to 

'  I  should  sadly  fail  in  doing  any  justice  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  McCosh  did  I  not 
lay  a  special  emphasis  on  the  Christian  element  in  his  administration.  Amid  all  his 
high  ambitious  and  large  plans  and  unsparing  labors  for  the  college,  he  never  forgot, 
and  his  faculty  was  never  allowed  to  forget,  that  it  should  maintain  the  character 
and  do  the  work  of  a  Christian  college.  He  believed  profoundly  that  education 
must  have  a  Christian  basis.  He  was  loyal  to  all  the  traditions  of  the  past,  and  he 
sought  to  administer  the  office  he  held  in  the  spirit  of  its  noble  charter.  It  was 
under  his  guidance  that  the  practice  of  administering  the  holy  conmiuuion  at  the 
beginning  and  close  of  the  college  year  was  instituted.  It  was  to  him  ^,  source  of 
the  truest  joy  when  this  beautiful  chapel  was  reared  by  the  generosity  of  the  donor. 
He  wrote  the  graceful  inscription  on  yonder  tablet.  In  private  and  in  public,  iu 
active  cooperation  with  the  Christi;iu  society  of  the  college,  and  iu  many  a  confi- 
dential talk  with  his  students  on  the  great  themes  of  religion,  he  sought  always  to 
develop  the  Christian  element  in  college  life.  I  do  not  think  he  favored  the  ide:i  of 
a  college  church.  In  fact,  though  a  I'resbyterian  by  deep  conviction,  he  avoided 
anything  which  would  divert  attention  from  his  own  aim  to  make  the  college  Chris- 
tian rather  than  denominational.  The  catholicity  of  his  spirit  here  was  full  and 
large.  The  legacy  of  devotion  to  the  Christian  element  in  college  life  he  has  lelt  us 
is  indeed  a  sacred  and  abiding  one. — Dr.  James  0.  Murray. 

^What  a  figure  he  has  been  in  Princeton  history!  I  need  not  describe  him.  You 
can  never  forget  him.  You  see  him  tall  and  majestic ;  his  fine  head  resting  on  stoop- 
ing shoulders;  his  classic  face,  with  a  voice  like  a  trumpet;  m.agisterial ;  with  no 
mock  humility — expecting  the  full  deference  that  was  due  his  oifice,  his  years,  and 
his  work.  Here  is  the  fruit  of  his  life:  the  books  he  has  written;  the  college  that 
he  has  built;  the  alumni  all  over  the  land  who  are  his  greatest  pupils.  Through  a 
qiiarter  of  a  century  and  more  he  lived  among  us — a  stalwart  man,  with  an  iron 
will;  no  mimosa  he,  sensitive,  shrinking  and  shriveling  at  the  touch  of  criticism; 
but  a  sturdj'  oak  that  storms  might  wrestle  with  but  only  heaven's  lightning  could 
hurt;  loyal  to  conscience;  deep  in  conviction;  tender  of  heart;  living  in  communion 
with  God,  and  loving  the  Word  of  God  as  he  loved  no  other  book ;  he  was  the  presi- 
dent who  woke  the  admiration,  and  touched  the  hearts,  and  kindled  the  enthusiasm 
of  Princeton  men.  No  wonder  they  were  fond  of  him. — President  Patten's  Memorial 
Sermon. 


282  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

impress  with  the  reality  of  the  external  world  as  against  the  teachings  of  idealism,  he 
said  with  a  sweep  of  his  handtoward  the  horizon  "  It  is  there !  it  is  there  I  You  know  it ! 
Teach  it!"  Then,  too,  he  was  shrewd.  In  the  case  of  a  student,  who  pleaded  inno- 
cence though  his  delinquency  was  apparent  to  the  doctor,  who  nevertheless  wanted 
to  he  easy  with  him,  the  verdict  was:  "I  accept  your  statement.  Youll  not  do  so 
again."  On  one  occasion  a  visiting  clergyman,  conducting  evening  chapel  service, 
made  an  elaborate  prayer,  iucludiug  in  his  petitions  all  the  officers  of  the  college, 
arranged  in  order  from  the  president  to  the  trustees,  professors,  and  tutors.  There 
was  great  applause  at  the  last  item.  At  the  faculty  meeting  immediately  after  the 
service  the  doctor,  in  commenting  upon  the  disorder,  aptly  remarked,  "'He  should 
have  had  more  sense  than  to  pray  for  the  tutors."  His  consciousness  of  mastery 
was  so  naive  that  he  cared  little  for  surface  disorder  in  the  classroom,  so  far  as  his 
confidence  in  being  able  to  meet  it  was  involved,  but  cared  a  great  deal  if  he  found 
himself  at  a  dead  point  in  the  course  over  which  he  felt  he  must  carry  the  class.' 
Here  the  dullards,  the  apathetic,  the  drones,  the  light-witted,  and  especially  the 
provokers  of  disorder  came  in  for  a  castigation  of  the  most  interesting  kind.  "  Sit 
down,  sir,"  sometimes  served  both  to  suppress  a  tumult  and  at  the  same  time  waken 
a  mind  that  had  never  been  awake  before.  He  could  talk  to  men  with  a  severity 
and  a  tone  of  command  few  would  dare  employ.  Though  the  most  indifferent  could 
not  fail  to  see  he  was  terribly  in  earnest  at  times,  they  also  saw  his  hearty  and  deep 
affection  for  them,  "A  man  of  granite  with  the  heart  of  a  child,"  is  an  under- 
graduate's estimate  of  the  old  doctor.- 

A  pleasant  picture  of  the  impression  he  made  on  auotht^r  man  of  simple  heart  an  I 
strong  nature  is  preserved  in  a  letter  of  President  Mark  Hopkins  of  Williams  Col- 

'Dr.  McCosh  was  iireemiuently  a  teacher.  His  place  with  Waylaud  and  ]Mark 
Hopkins  and  Woolsej'  among  the  great  college  presidents  of  America  is  due  iu  no 
small  degree  to  the  fact  that  like  t'.iem  he  was  a  teacher.  I  know  that  I  speak  the 
sentiments  of  some  who  hold  a  position  similar  to  mine  in  other  institutions  when  I 
say  that  the  increase  of  executive  duties  that  draws  the  jiresident  from  the  class 
room  is  a  misfortune.  It  would  have  been  an  iri*eijarable  loss,  to  be  made  up  by  n  ► 
amount  of  efficiency  and  success  in  other  directions,  for  Dr.  McCosh  to  have  with 
drawn  from  the  position  of  teacher  Avhile  he  was  able  to  teach.  For  he  Avas  a  super  o 
teacher.  He  knew  what  he  believed  and  why  he  believed  it,  and  he  taught  it  with 
a  moral  earnestness  that  enforced  attention.  *  '^  *  There  are  teachers  who 
handle  a  great  suljject  iu  a  great  way,  with  no  lack  of  sympathy  or  humor  and  a 
large  knowledge  of  human  nature;  who  win  yovir  confidence  and  stimulate  yonr 
ambition ;  who  make  you  eager  to  read,  and  who  send  you  out  of  the  lecture  room 
with  your  heart  divided  between  yonr  admiration  of  the  man  and  your  interest  in 
his  theme.  Dr.  McCosh  was  a  teacher  of  this  kind.  No  mere  closet  philosopher 
was  he;  no  cold-blooded  overseer;  l)ut  a  teaching  member  of  the  faculty  in  which 
he  sat;  a  man  of  heart  as  well  as  brain,  who  could  fetd  as  well  as  think,  aud  who 
could  be  both  hot  and  tender. — President  Patton's  Memorial  Sermon. 

'^lu  matters  of  administration  Dr.  McCosh,  without  being  iu  any  sense  autocratic, 
managed  to  exercise  a  good  deal  of  authority.  For  there  is  no  nice  provision  of 
checks  and  balances  in  the  government  of  a  college.  The  three  estates  of  trustees, 
faculty,  aud  undergraduates  constitute  an  organismthat  furnishes  a  tine  opportunity 
for  experiments  in  ]>olitical  theories.  The  government  may  be  monarchical  or  repub- 
lican or  patriarchal.  It  may  do  its  work  after  the  fashion  of  the  Aiut^rieau  Congress 
or  the  English  Parliament.  It  may  be  unicameral  or  bicameral,  as  the  trustee > 
choose  or  do  not  choose  to  put  all  power  in  the  hands  of  the  faculty.  But  by  the 
charter  of  the  college  the  president  is  invested  with  a  power  that  belongs  to  no 
one  else.  He  ought  to  be  very  discreet,  very  wise,  very  open  to  suggestion,  and 
very  good-natured;  but  wlien  he  is  sure  that  he  is  right,  very  resolute.  I  imagine 
that  Dr.  McCosh  was  as  good  a  man  as  one  could  find  anywhere  fo  have  so  inuch 
power  in  his  hands.  Ho  had  the  insight  to  know  when  the  trustees  were  more 
important  than  the  faculty,  and  when  the  faculty  were  wiser  than  the  trustees;  and 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  283 

lege,  written  after  Dr.  McCosh  bad  visited  Willianistown.  It  may  well  be  inserted 
bere.  " Tbat  visit/' be  ■writes,  "is  among  my  most  pleasant  recollections.  It  was 
during  tbe  summer  vacation;  tbe  weatber  was  line,  and  we  were  quite  at  leisure  to 
stroll  about  tbe  grounds  and  ride  over  tbe  bills.  Riding  tbus,  we  readied,  I  remem- 
ber, a  point  wbicb  be  said  reminded  bim  of  Scotland.  Tbere  we  aligbted.  At  once 
be  bounded  into  tbe  fields  like  a  young  man,  passed  up  tbe  billside,  and,  casting 
bimself  at  full  lengtb  under  a  sbade,  gave  bimself  up  for  a  time  to  tbe  associations 
and  inspiration  of  tbe  scene.  I  seem  to  see  bim  now,  a  man  of  world-wide  reputa- 
tion, lying  tbus  solitary  among  tbe  bills.  Tbey  were  draped  in  a  dreamy  baze  sug- 
gestive of  poetic  inspiration,  and,  from  bis  quiet  but  evidently  intense  enjoyment, 
be  migbt  well,  if  be  bad  not  been  a  great  metapbysician,  bave  been  taken  for  a  great 
poet.  And,  indeed,  tbougb  be  bad  revealed  bimself  cbielly  on  tbe  metapbysical 
side,  it  was  evident  tbat  be  sbared  largely  in  tbat  bappy  temperament  of  wbicb 
Shakespeare  and  Tennj-son  are  tbe  best  examples,  in  wbicb  metajdiysics  and  i)oetry 
seem  to  be  fused  into  one  and  becouu'  identical.' 

About  bis  i)ersonality  numberless  stories  bave  been  gathered,  illustrative  of  bis 
various  traits.  He  was  tbe  constant  tbeme  of  student  talk,  even  to  bis  slightest 
peculiarities.  The  "young  barbarians  all  at  play"  were  fond  of  these,  and  yet 
with  reverence  for  him.-     Who  can  forget  some  of  tbe  doctor's  favorite  hymns? 

Young  to  the  end,  through  sympathy  with  youth, 
Gray  man  of  learning!  champion  of  truth  I 
Direct  in  rugged  speech,  alert  iu  mind. 
He  felt  bis  kinship  with  all  human  kind, 
And  never  feared  to  trace  development 
Of  high  from  low — assured  and  full  content 
That  man  paid  homage  to  tbe  Mind  above, 
Uplifted  by  the  royal  law  of  Love. 

The  laws  of  nature  that  he  loved  to  trace 
Have  worked,  at  last,  to  veil  from  us  bis  face; 
The  dear  old  elms  and  ivy-colored  walls 
Will  miss  bis  presence,  and  tbe  stately  balls 
His  trumpet  voice.     While  in  their  joys 
Sorrow  will  shadow  those  be  called  "'my  boys." 
XovemT)er  17,  1894.  — Robert  Bridges,  '79. 

No  one,  surely,  who  beard  two  of  them  sung  with  deep  tenderness  at  bis  burial. 
Dr.  McCosb  gave  up  the  presidency  June  20,  188S,  passing  the  remainder  of  his  days 
at  bis  newly-built  home  on  Prospect  avenue.  His  figure  was  well  known  among  us 
these  last  years,  as  be  took  bis  walks  in  tbe  village  or  out  into  tbe  country  or  under 
the  elms  of  tbe  McC'osh  walk,  or  sat  in  his  place  in  the  Marquaud  chapel.  His  interest 
in  the  college  never  abated.  Yet  be  did  not  interfere  in  it  after  he  left  it.  As  Presi- 
dent Patton  has  observed:  ''  He  was  more  than  a  model  president.  He  was  a  model 
ex-president."  Nor  did  he  lose  sight  of  "my  boys,"  his  former  pupils.  At  the 
annual  reunions  of  classes  it  became  tbe  custom  to  march  in  a  body  to  see  him  at  bis 
home.     He  "knew  them,"  even  if  not  always  byname.     Yet  he  would  astonish  many 

be  belonged  to  both  bodies.  He  was  shrewd,  sagacious,  i^enetratiug,  and  masterful. 
If  there  bad  been  a  weatberwise  man  among  us,  be  would  sometimes  have  hoisted 
tbe  storm  siguals  over  the  college  offices,  for  the  doctor  was  a  man  of  like  passions 
with  us  all.  He  carried  the  in  loco  parentis  theory  of  goverumeut  farther  than  some 
are  disposed  to  bave  it  carried  to-day.  The  students  loved  him  and  be  loved  them. 
He  was  faithful  with  them ;  spoke  plainly  to  them  ;  as  a  father  with  his  sons  he  was 
severe;  and  also  as  a  father  be  was  fender  and  kind.— President  Patton's  Memorial 
Sermon. 

'New  York  Observer,  Thursday,  May  13,  1869 

2  James  McCosh,  1811-1894. 


284  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

a  one  by  recalling  some  jjersonal  iucident  tliat  might  well  be  supposed  to  be  for- 
gotten. Nearly  120  of  his  pupils  have  followed  his  example  in  devoting  themselves 
to  the  cause  of  higher  learning.  Some  of  them  have  failed  to  follow  the  old  doctor's 
philosophy  in  all  its  bearings,  some  may  have  diverged  otherwise,  but  no  one,  I  feel 
sure,  has  failed  to  carry  away  a  conviction  of  the  reality  of  truth  and  of  the  nobility 
of  pursuing  it,  as  well  as  at  least  a  reverence  for  the  Christian  religion.  On  April 
1,  1891,  his  eightieth  birthday  occurred.  It  was  duly  honored.  The  day  was  liter- 
ally given  over  to  the  old  doctor.  The  president,  the  trustees,  the  faculty  as  a  body, 
the  students,  the  alumni,  the  residents  of  Princeton,  and  distant  personal  friends 
were  present  or  represented.  His  last  really  public  appearance  was  at  the  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Education  held  in  connection  with  the  World's  Columbian 
Exhibition  at  Chicago,  in  July,  1893.  The  popular  interest  and  the  interest  of. 
education  in  him  was  such  as  to  make  him  the  most  noted  tigure  there.  Other  presi- 
dents and  institutions  joined  cordially  in  doing  him  honor,  and  his  presence  at  the 
rrinceton  section  of  the  university  exhibits  was  the  occasion  for  a  demonstration  of 
affection  from  his  old  pupils. 

On  Sunday,  October  28, 1894,  he  was  as  usual  in  his  place  in  the  chapel.  It  was  his 
last  appearance  there.  Within  a  day  or  two  he  gave  such  evidence  of  failing  strength 
that  his  end  was  seen  to  be  near.  Without  the  strolie  of  disease,  clear-minded  to 
the  last,  at  his  own  home,  and  surrounded  by  all  his  family,  he  peacefully  passed 
away  at  10  o'clock  in  the  night  of  Friday,  November  16,  1894.  The  students  whom 
he  had  never  taught,  but  who  loved  him,  rang  the  bell  of  Nassau  Hall  to  tell  Prince- 
ton that  Dr.  McCosh  was  dead. 

"  'Fortis  vir  sapiensque'  is  part  of  the  epitajib  of  one  of  the  Scipios.  It  describes 
Dr.  McCosh.  But  he  was  more  than  a  strong  and  wise  man.  He  discerned,"  con- 
cludes Professor  West,  "so  far  as  to  distinguish  between  the  transient  and  the 
enduring,  the  illusory  and  the  real,  in  character,  in  thought,  in  education,  and  in 
religion.  He  sought  and  laid  hold  on  '  the  things  that  can  not  be  shaken.'  And 
they  will  'remain.'  For  as  one  of  his  pupils  well  said  when  we  turned  home  from 
his  grave,  '  He  was  himself  one  of  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion.'  "  ' 

On  the  resiguatiou  of  Dr.  McCosh,  the  trustees  elected  as  his  suc- 
cessor the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Landley  Pattou,  professor  of  ethics  in  the 
college,  professor  also  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  He  was 
inaugurated  on  the  20th  of  June,  1S8S.  Those  who,  on  that  occasion, 
spoke  for  the  faculty  and  the  alumni,  while  expressing  gratitude  for 
the  past  career  of  the  college  and  loyalty  to  its  "  distinctly  Christian 
basis,"  exi^ressed  the  hope  also  that  the  name  "  university"  would  soon 
be  adoi)ted.  "We  shall  be  glad,"  said  Dr.  Heury  van  Dyke,  speaking 
for  the  alumni,  "when  the  last  swaddling  baud  of  an  outgrown  name 
drops  from  the  infant,  and  the  college  of  New  Jersey  stands  up  straight 


'  He  was  a  great  man  and  he  was  a  good  man.  Eager  as  he  was  for  tlie  material 
and  intellectual  advancement  of  the  college,  he  thought  even  more  of  its  moral  and 
religious  tone.  He  was  an  earnest  and  able  preacher,  and  his  trumpet  gave  no 
uncertain  sound.  Alike  in  speculative  philosophy  and  in  practical  morals  he  was 
always  on  the  Christian  side.  He  never  stood  in  a  doubtl'nl  attitude  toward  the 
Gospel  and  never  spoke  a  word  that  would  compromise  its  truths.  So  that  when  I 
think  of  his  long  career,  and  what  he  did,  and  how  he  lived,  I  am  reminded  of  the 
apostle  who  was  so  consciously  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Gospel  that  he  could 
not  conceive  himself  as  under  any  circumstances  doing  anytliing  that  would  hinder 
it,  and  who  said  in  the  words  that  I  have  placed  at  the  beginning  of  this  discourse: 
"We  can  do  nothing  against  the  truth  but  for  the  truth." — President  Pattou's 
Memorial  Sernu)n. 


PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY.  285 

in  the  center  of  the  Middle  States  as  the  University  of  Princeton." 
The  new  president,  sharing  in  the  general  desire,  answered  in  his 
inaugural  discourse  the  questions,  "What  is  a  university  and  what 
kind  of  a  university  ought  Princeton  to  be?"  Inheriting  from  the  pre- 
vious administration  the  ideal  of  a  university  and  the  beginning  of  its 
realization,  the  present  president  has  labored  with  conspicuous  success 
to  make  this  ideal  actual.  The  faculty  of  instruction  has  been  hugely 
increased,  the  departments  have  been  more  highly  organized,  and  addi- 
tional courses  for  undergraduates  and  graduate  students  have  been 
established.  The  number  of  students  has  risen  during  Dr.  Patton's 
administration  from  600  to  1,100;  and  more  States  and  countries  are 
represented  in  the  student  body  to-day  than  at  any  previous  period. 
Leaving  out  of  view  the  gifts  and  foundations  which  have  been  made 
in  connection  with  the  sesquicentennial  celebration,  not  only  have 
additional  endowments  been  secured  and  real  property  of  great  value 
to  the  college  been  acquired  during  the  past  eight  years,  but  as  many 
as  eight  new  buildings  have  been  erected. 

The  remarkable  development  of  the  institution  along  the  lines  just 
indicated,  during  the  present  administration  and  the  administration 
immediately  preceding  it,  determined  the  board  of  trust  to  apply  for  a 
change  in  its  corporate  name.  It  was  thought  that  the  one  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  grant  of  the  first  charter  would  offer  a 
suitable  occasion  for  the  change  of  the  name  from  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  to  Princeton  University,  aud  the  sesquicenteuuial  celebration 
was  projected.  In  this  celebration  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  governor  of  New  Jersey,  representatives  of  foreign  universities 
and  of  the  universities  and  learned  societies  of  the  United  States 
united  with  the  president,  the  trustees,  the  faculty,  the  jjatrons,  the 
alumni,  and  the  undergraduates  of  the  college,  and  the  citizens  of 
Princeton  in  commemorating  with  joy  and  gratitude  the  great  and 
beneficent  career  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  The  appropriateness  of 
the  celebration  and  the  propriety  of  the  new  name  were  cordially  and 
unanimously  acknowledged.  The  addresses  during  the  celebration  as 
well  as  the  responses  to  the  invitations  to  assist  in  the  academic  festi- 
val embodied  the  feeling  expressed  in  the  legend  inscribed  on  one  of 
the  arches : 

Ave  Salve  Uuiversitas  PriucetonieusisI 
THE  SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION. 

The  loOth  anniversary  of  the  founding  ot  Princeton  University,  as 
referred  to  in  the  closing  sentences  of  Professor  De  Witt's  article,  was 
celebrated  on  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday,  October  20,  21,  and 
22,  189G.  No  more  brilliant  educational  function  has  ever  been  held  in 
the  United  States.  From  universities  of  the  Old  World  and  the  ^ew 
came  the  distinguished  array  of  guests.  President  Cleveland  was  pres- 
ent aud  gave  one  of  the  addresses.    Governor  Griggs  and  many  other 


286  HISTOKY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

officials  of  New  Jersey  took  part  in  the  proceedings.  Fortunately  tbe 
weather  was  perfect,  and  nothing  was  wanting  to  make  this  the  most 
memoi'able  occasion  in  the  history  of  the  university. 

Tbe  celebration  was  opened  on  Monday,  October  20,  at  10.30  o'clock, 
by  services  in  Alexander  Hall,  where  President  Patton  preached  a  ser- 
mon in  part  historical.  Then  at  3  o'clock  Alexander  Hall  was  again 
filled,  on  which  occasion  Dr.  Cbarles  E.  Green,  the  chairman  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  presided,  and  Dr.  Howard  Duffield,  of  ^ew  York 
City,  delivered  the  address  of  welcome  on  the  part  of  Princeton  to 
her  guests.  To  this  two  responses  were  made:  By  President  Eliot,  of 
Harvard  University,  in  behalf  of  American  universities  and  learned 
societies,  and  by  Prof.  J.  J.  Thompson,  of  Cambridge  University,  Eng- 
land, in  behalf  of  European  universities. 

The  principal  day  of  the  series  was  Tuesday,  the  21st.  Governor 
Griggs  presided  at  the  imposing  and  brilliant  gathering  in  tbe  morn- 
ing at  Alexander  Hall.  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke  delivered  a  poem  entitled 
"The  Builders,"  and  Prof.  Woodrow  Wilson  pronounced  an  oration  on 
Princeton  in  the  i^ation's  Service.  In  tbe  evening  a  procession  took 
place,  composed  of  local  military  organizations,  of  the  undergraduates 
of  tbe  university,  and  of  1,500  alumni.  This  procession  was  reviewed 
by  tbe  President  of  the  United  States,  Grover  Cleveland,  after  whi(;h 
the  evening  was  closed  by  a  brilliant  exhibition  of  fireworks. 

The  exercises  were  finished  on  Thursday,  the  22d.  President  Patton 
announced  tbe  name  of  Princeton  University,  which  hereafter  tbe  ven- 
erable institution  was  to  bear.  He  also  announced  the  new  endowments 
which  the  friends  of  the  university  had  contributed  to  aid  in  her  new 
career.  Honorary  degrees  were  conferred  upon  about  seventy  distin- 
guished scholars,  who  Avere  mainly  present  to  receive  the  award. 
President  Cleveland,  who  was  present  and  had  been  honored  with  one 
of  these  degrees,  then  delivered  a  fitting  address. 

In  the  evening  a  dinner  was  given  to  tbe  official  guests  and  to  the 
benefactors  of  the  university,  at  which  the  enthusiasm  of  the  occasion 
had  full  vent.  Professor  Fisher,  Professor  Seth,  Hon.  W.  B.  Horn- 
blower,  Professor  Klein,  Professor  Hubrecht,  Prof.  Goldwin  Smith. 
Prof.  Edward  Dowden,  and  Commissioner  W.  T.  Harris  were  the  orators 
of  the  dinner,  and  concluded  a  celebration  which  will  be  ever  memora- 
ble in  educational  events  in  our  country. 


Chapter  X. 

RUTGERS  COLLEGE. 


By  Rev.  David  D.  Demarest,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  ' 


A  charter  for  Queen's  (now  Rutgers)  College,  in  New  Jersey,  was 
granted  by  Governor  William  Franklin  November  10,  176G.  This 
charter  was  not  placed  on  public  record,  nor  did  the  college  go  into 
active  operation  under  it.  That  this  charter  was  granted  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  the  Xew  York  Mercury  published  in  three  successive 
issues,  April  20,  27,  May  4,  1767,  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  the  trustees,  to 
be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  IMay  "at  or  near  the  county  house 
of  New  Barbndoes  or  Hackensack  Town,  in  Bergen  County."  At  this 
meeting  the  trustees  were  "to  be  properly  and  duly  qualitied  by  any 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  supreme  court,  or  judges  of  the  inferior 
court  of  common  pleas,  of  the  colony  of  New  Jersey,  before  they  proceed 
to  any  business." 

The  names  of  the  trustees  are  contained  in  this  call,  thirty-seven  in 
number,  with  four  trustees  ex  officio.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  neither 
the  minutes  of  this  meeting,  nor  of  any  meeting  of  the  trustees  held 
under  this  first  charter,  have  come  down  to  us. 

We  know  that  one  meeting  was  held,  and  that  its  chief  act  was  the 
adoption  of  a  petition  for  an  amended  charter. 

At  a  State  council,  held  at  Burlington  November  24,  17G9,  over 
which  Governor  Franklin  presided — 

A  petition  was  received  from  Heudiick  Fisher,  esq.,  president  of  the  trustees  of 
Queen's  College,  in  this  province,  praying  that  an  alteration  may  be  made  in  the 
charter  granted  to  the  said  trustees.  The  council  advised  his  excellency  to  grant 
the  prayer  of  the  said  petition,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  distinction  of  residents  and 
nonresidents  in  the  said  charter  mentioned. - 

In  accordance  with  this  the  second  and  amended  charter  was  granted 
by  Governor  Franklin  March  20,  1770.  Under  this  charter  the  college 
has  performed  its  work  until  the  present  time. 

Fortunately,  a  copy  of  the  draft  of  the  petition  of  the  trustees  alluded 
to  has  been  found.  In  it  they  earnestly  plead  for  an  amendment  of 
the  charter  because  of  serious  defects.  They  strongly  emphasize  the 
distinction  made  in  it  between  residents  and  nonresidents  of  New 


'  Since  this  sketch  was  written  the  author  died,  June  21,  1898. 
2  New  Jersey  Archives,  1st  series,  Vol.  XVII,  p.  24. 


287 


288  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Jersey  to  the  advantage  of  the  former.  What  was  the  nature  of  this 
obnoxious  distinction  we  are  not  informed,  but  the  petitioners  declare 
that  it  prevented  many  of  the  trustees  from  qualifying  for  their  office, 
that  it  prevented  others  from  attending  the  meetings,  and  that  it  was 
certain  to  prevent  the  college  from  obtaining  friends  or  moneys  outside 
of  New  Jersey.  The  council  advised  the  removal  of  that  provision  and 
said  nothing  about  other  changes.  It  is  fair  to  presume  that  the  new 
charter  agreed  with  the  old  in  all  respects  except  in  this  one  particular. 
The  same  persons  were  named  as  trustees,  with  two  or  three  excei)- 
tions,  owing  doubtless  to  vacancies  caused  by  death  or  resignation. 

It  has  been  frequently  stated  that  under  the  first  charter  the  Dutch 
language  was  to  be  exclusively  used  in  the  college,  and  that  that  was 
one  of  the  difficulties  for  the  removal  of  which  the  trustees  asked  when 
they  petitioned  for  an  amended  charter,  and  that  this  was  removed  and 
the  following  new  provision  inserted : 

Provided  nhvays,  and  it  is  hereby  declared  aud  expressly  eujoiiied,  That  there  shall 
always  be  residing  at  or  near  such  college  at  least  one  professor  or  teacher  well 
versed  in  the  English  language,  elected,  nominated,  maintained,  and  supported  by 
the  said  corporation  from  time  to  time  to  instruct  the  students  of  the  said  college 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  English  language. 

Provided  also,  That  all  minutes  of  the  meetings  and  transactions  of  the  trustees, 
and  all  rules,  orders,  and  regulations  relating  to  the  government  of  the  said  college, 
and  all  accounts  relating  to  the  receipts  and  payments  of  money  shall  be  in  the 
English  language  and  no  other. 

We  have  not  found  satisfactory  authority  for  this  statement.  It  is 
difficult  to  think  that  the  able  and  farsighted  men  who  were  the  leaders  in 
this  movement  could  have  been  so  blind  as  not  to  see  at  once  that  with 
such  a  provision  the  college  could  never  succeed.  The  Dutch  language 
had  already  for  a  century  been  banished  from  courts  of  justice,  halls  of 
legislation,  aud  all  public  business,  and  was  fast  being  crowded  out  of 
its  remaining  strongholds — the  school,  the  pulpit,  and  the  household. 

Besides,  the  trustees  in  their  petition  to  the  council  do  not  mention 
this  as  a  feature  in  the  charter  that  ought  to  be  removed,  while  they 
dwell  chiefly  and  emphatically  on  the  fatal  distinction  made  between 
residents  and  nonresidents  of  New  Jersey.  The  advice  given  by  the 
council  to  the  governor  was  that  the  petition  should  be  granted  "so  far 
as  relates  to  the  distinction  of  residents  and  nonresidents  in  the  said 
charter  mentioned."  This  justifies  the  inference  that  no  change,  cer- 
tainly no  important  one,  in  the  charter  was  made,  except  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  unfortunate  clause  concerning  residents  and  nonresidents, 
and  also  that  the  provision  about  the  Englisli  language  was  contained 
in  the  first  charter  as  well  as  in  the  second. 

The  reasons  urged  for  the  founding  of  this  college  are  fully  stated  in 
the  charter,  as  follows : 

George  the  Third,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  King, 

defender  of  the  faith,  etc.     To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  greeting: 

Whereas  our  loving  subjects  being  of  the  Protestant  reformed  religion,  according 

to  the  constitution  of  the  reformed  churches  in  the  United  I'rovinces,  aud  using  the 

discipline  of  the  said  churches,  as  approved  and  instituted  by  the  national  synod  of 


RUTGERS    COLLEGE.  289 

Dort  in  the  year  1618-19,  are  in  this  and  the  neii^liboriiii;-  provinces  very  numerous, 
consisting  of  many  churches  and  ridigious  assemhlies,  the  ministers  and  chh'is  of 
which  having  taken  into  serious  consideration  the  manner  in  whicli  the  said 
churches  might  be  properly  supplied  with  an  able,  learned,  and  well-qualilied  min- 
istry, and  thinking  it  necessary,  and  being  very  desirous,  tliat  a  college  might  be 
erected  for  that  purpose  within  this  our  province  of  New  Jersey,  in  which  tho 
learned  languages  and  other  branches  of  useful  knowledge  may  be  taught  and 
degrees  conferred,  and  especially  that  young  men  of  suitable  abilities  may  bo 
instructed  in  divinity,  preparing  them  for  the  ministry  and  supplying  the  necessity 
of  the  churches,  for  themselves  and  in  behalf  of  their  churches,  presented  a  petition 
to  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  William  Franklin,  esti.,  governor  and  conmiander  iii 
chief  in  and  over  our  province  of  New  Jersey  in  America,  setting  forth  that  incon- 
veniences are  manifold  and  the  expenses  heavy,  in  either  being  supplied  with  min- 
isters of  the  gospel  from  foreign  parts  or  sending  young  men  abroad  for  education; 
that  tho  present  and  increasing  necessity  for  a  considerable  number  to  bo  employed 
in  the  ministry  is  great;  that  a  preservation  of  a  fund  for  the  necessary  uses  of 
instruction  very  much  depends  upon  a  charter; 

And  therefore  humljly  entreat  that  some  persons  might  be  incorporated  in  a  body 
politic  for  the  purposes  aforesaid;  and  we,  being  willing  to  grant  the  reasonable 
request  and  prayer  of  said  petitioners,  and  to  promote  learning  for  tins  benefit  of 
the  community  and  ailvancement  of  the  Protestant  religion  of  all  denominations, 
and  more  especially  to  remove  as  much  as  possible  the  necessity  our  said  loving  sub- 
jects have  hitherto  been  under  of  sending  their  youth  intended  for  the  niinistrj-  to  a 
foreign  country  for  education  and  of  being  subordinate  to  a  foreign  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction;  know  ye,  therefore,  etc. 

But  ull  the  Dutch  ministers  and  congregations  did  not  unite  in  this 
petition  for  a  college.  There  was  strong  oi)position  to  it.  The  church 
was  divided  into  two  parties,  the  progressive  and  conservative,  known 
in  that  day  as  the  Coetus  and  the  Conferentie.  They  were  all  agreed 
about  the  importance  of  thorough  education  for  the  ministry,  and  in  the 
bidief  that  this  could  be  secured  only  by  institutions  in  which  the  usual 
academic  studies,  as  well  as  divinity,  are  pursued.  The  most  ardent 
member  of  the  Coetus  party  had  no  thought  of  the  desirability  or  even 
possibility  of  obtaining  the  object  in  any  other  way.  It  had  early 
become  evident  to  many  that  the  church  in  America  must  ere  long 
become  independent  of  the  church  in  the  iTetherlands,  and  with  that 
question  were  vitally  connected  the  questions  of  ministerial  training, 
licensure,  and  ordination.  The  number  of  churches  was  greatly  iu 
excess  of  the  number  of  ministers.  Most  of  the  congregations  were  to'o 
poor  to  send  to  Holland  for  ministers,  or  to  send  young  men  thither  to 
be  educated;  the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  was  tedious  and  perilous, 
and  church  discipline  was  seriously  interfered  with  by  distance  and 
delays. 

The  first  step  toward  ecclesiastical  independence  was  taken  when  the 
Coetus  was  formed,  which  was  an  advisory  body,  composed  of  all  the 
ministers  and  representative  elders  of  the  congregations.  Tliis  body 
was  created  in  1747,  with  the  assent  of  the  Chassis  of  Amsterdam.  Its 
powers  were  very  limited.  It  could  not  take  final  action  in  cases 
of  discipline.  It  was  not  allowed  to  ordain  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry, though  this  was  permitted  by  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  as  a  spe- 
cial favor  in  two  or  three  instances.  The  practical  working  of  this 
20G87— i^o.  23 19 


290  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

body  only  St rsiigtliened  in  the  minds  of  the  progressives  the  conviction 
that  measures  must  speedily  be  taken  to  found  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing and  to  assert  independence  of  the  mother  church.  The  Ooetus 
soon  claimed  and  exercised  the  powers  of  an  independent  classis.  It 
assumed  and  exercised  the  right  to  examine  and  ordain  candidates  for 
the  ministry.  This  action  greatly  excited  the  members  of  the  con- 
servatives, and  was  followed  by  fifteen  years  of  bitter  controversy 
between  the  two  parties.  Would  that  this  chapter  in  the  history  of 
the  Dutch  churches  in  this  country  could  be  blotted  out! 

The  members  of  the  Confereutie  insisted  that  the  time  had  not  come 
for  the  churches  here  to  undertake  to  educate  ministers,  for  no  institu- 
tion could  be  created  by  them  to  compete  with  the  universities  of  Hol- 
land. The  Ooetus  contended  that  it  was  a  necessity;  that  the  church 
must  do  the  best  that  it  could  with  its  resources,  and  must  at  least 
plant  in  the  hope  that  there  would  be  growth.  The  Rev.  Theodore 
Frelinghuyseu,  of  Albany,  went  from  church  to  church  to  enlist  min- 
isters and  members  in  the  movement.  In  1759,  commissioned  by  the 
Coetus,  he  visited  Holland,  to  enlist  sympathy  and  obtain  help  there, 
lie  died  on  his  return  voyage,  having,  it  is  believed,  accomplished 
little.  The  Oonferentie  party  made  countermovements,  endeavoring 
first  to  have  a  professorship  of  divinity  established  in  connection  with 
King's  (Columbia)  College  and  afterwards  with  Princeton  College. 
Both  efforts  failed,  and  the  members  of  the  Coetus  were  more  and 
more  determined  to  have  a  college  of  their  own,  and  we  have  seen  how 
they  succeeded. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  under  the  amended  charter  was  held 
in  the  village  of  Hackensack,  May  7,  1771,  to  determine  whether  the 
college  should  be  located  at  Hackensack  or  Kew  Brunswick,  both  places 
greatly  desiring  it.  !New  Brunswick  carried  the  day,  having  brought 
in  subscriptions  for  more  money  than  Hackensack  promised.  Other 
considerations  possibly  had  weight.  It  has  been  said  that  one  of  these 
was  the  fact  that  Kew  Brunswick  was  nearer  than  Hackensack  to  the 
German  Reformed  churches  in  Pennsylvania,  which  were  under  the 
care  of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam,  as  were  the  Dutch  chuiches. 

Unfortunately,  the  minutes  of  subsequent  meetings  of  the  trustees 
down  to  1782  are  missing,  and  consequently  we  are  dependent  for  the 
meager  information  we  have  about  the  work  of  the  college  during  that 
period  to  a  few  notices  in  the  newspapers  and  to  tradition.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  college  was  without  a  president  during  that  period  and 
until  17S0.  Its  work  was  performed  by  tutors  and  by  teachers  of  the 
grammar  school.  A  faculty  was  constituted  of  a  committee  of  trustees, 
who  attended  quarterly  examinations  of  the  college  and  grammar 
schools.  The  first  tutor  was  Frederick  Frelinghuysen,  son  of  the  Rev. 
John  Frelinghuysen,  of  Raritan,  afterwards  Oeneral  Frelinghuysen, 
of  Revolntionary  fame.  It  was  the  day  of  small  things  for  the  college, 
and  the  troubled  condition  of  the  country  before  and  during  the  Revo- 


RUTGERS    COLLEGE.  291 

lutioiiary  war  macle  a  favorable  beginuiug  imi^ossible.  It  became  nec- 
essary to  leave  Xew  Brunswick  at  times  for  more  peaceful  locations, 
as  North  Branch  and  Millstone,  though  commencement  exercises  were 
held  in  New  Brunswick  in  1778. 

Official  notices  appeared  in  the  New  Jersey  Gazette,  published  at 
Trenton,  as  follows: 

Raritan,  January  4,  1779. 

The  faculty  of  Queen's  College  take  this  method  to  inform  the  puhlic  that  the 
Imsiness  of  the  said  college  is  still  carried  on  at  the  North  Branch  of  Raritaii,  in  the 
county  of  Somerset,  where  good  accommodations  for  young  gentlemen  may  be  had 
in  respectable  families  at  as  moderate  prices  as  in  any  part  of  the  State.  This 
neighborhood  is  so  far  distant  from  lieadcjuarters  that  not  any  of  the  troojjs  are  sta- 
tioned here,  neither  does  the  Army  iu  the  least  interfere  with  the  business  of  the 
college.  The  faculty  also  take  the  liberty  to  remind  the  public  that  the  representa- 
tives of  this  State  have  enacted  a  law  by  which  students  at  college  are  exempted 
from  military  duty.  ^ 

Hillsborough,  Maxj  25,  1780. 

The  vacation  of  Queen's  College,  at  Hillsborough,  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  and 
of  the  grammar  school  in  the  city  of  New  Brunswick,  is  expired,  and  the  business  of 
each  is  again  commenced.  Good  lodgings  may  be  procured  in  both  places  at  as  low 
a  rate  as  in  any  part  of  the  State. 

By  order  of  the  faculty: 

John  Taylor,  Gltrk  Pro  Tern. 

At  what  time  Col.  John  Taylor  became  tutor  is  not  known,  but  he 
probably  succeeded  Frelinghuysen.  It  is  certain  that  he  occupied  this 
position  in  1779,  and  that,  with  one  or  two  short  intervals,  he  continued 
in  it  until  1796,  when  he  became  a  professor  in  Union  College  at  its 
inception.     He  was  the  principal  teacher  during  this  period,  and 

his  attention  seems  to  have  V)een  divided  between  his  duties  as  colonel  of  the  New 
Jersey  State  regiment,  called  from  time  to  time,  as  the  needs  of  the  province  required, 
into  active  military  operation,  and  his  duties  as  professor  and  principal  teacher  iu 
Queen's  College. 

The  reconciliation  of  the  Coetus  and  the  Confereutie  parties  was 
effected  in  1771.  In  that  year  a  "plan  of  union "  was  brought  from  Hol- 
land by  Dr.  John  H  Livingston,  who  hadjust  completed  his  studies  in 
the  University  of  Utrecht  and  been  ordained  as  a  pastor  of  the  Collegiate 
Dutch  Cliurch  iii  New  York.  This  plan  had  been  informally  approved 
beforehand  by  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam.  It  was  adopted  by  a  conven- 
tion of  ministers  and  elders,,  embracing  both  parties,  held  in  New  York 
City  in  October,  1771,  the  year  after  the  second  charter  of  Queen's  Col- 
lege had  been  obtained.  One  of  the  requirements  of  this  "plan  of 
union"  was  that  one  or  more  divines  of  the  Netherlands  should  be 
chosen  to  be  professors  on  recommendation  of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam, 

provided,  however,  that  such  professor  or  professors  shall  have  no  connection  with 
any  English  academies,  but  shall  deliver  lectures  on  theology  in  their  own  houses  to 
such  students  only  as  can  by  suitable  testimonials  make  it  appear  that  they  have 
carefully  exercised  themselves  in  the  preparatory  branches  for  two  or  three  years  at 
a  college  or  academy  under  the  supervision  of  competent  teachers  iu  the  languages, 
philosophy,  etc. 


292  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

This  disposed  of  all  plans  for  the  establish nieut  of  professorships  of 
divinity  in  King's  and  Princeton  colleges  and  presnmably  Qneen'salso, 
although  its  charter  contained  a  ijrovision  for  such  professorship.  The 
embittered  feelings  of  the  members  of  the  Couferentie  party  against 
those  who  had  procured  the  charter  could  not  be  allayed  at  once,  and 
they  could  not  consent  that  the  teachers  of  divinity  for  the  whole  church 
should  be  placed  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  trustees  of 
Queen's  College. 

But  the  trustees  of  the  college  were  among  the  most  able,  active,  and 
loyal  ministers  and  members  of  the  Iveformed  Dutch  Church,  and  by 
their  wisdom,  moderation,  and  conciliatory  spirit  seem  speedily  to  have 
won  the  confidence  of  the  churches  generally.  This  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  as  early  as  1773  they  sent  to  the  '^  General  meeting  of  ministers 
and  elders"  a  respectful  address  representing,  among  other  things, 

that  they  had  written  to  the  reverend  Classis  of  Amsterdam  aud  the  reverend  theo- 
logical faculty  of  Utrecht  requesting  those  reverend  bodies  to  recommend  a  person 
whom  they  judged  qualified  to  be  called  as  president  of  the  forementioned  college, 
who  should  at  the  same  time  instruct  those  youths  who  chose  to  place  themselves 
under  his  oversight  in  sacred  theology,  and  who  would  consequently,  agreeable  to 
the  received  articles  of  union,  be  a  member  of  the  particular  aud  general  ecclesias- 
tical bodies,  and  commending  the  forementioned  college  to  the  kind  regard  of  this 
reverend  body. 

In  this  communication  of  the  trustees  we  have  the  germ  of  the  plan, 
subsequently  carried  into  effect,  for  the  friendly  cooperation  of  the 
trustees  and  synod,  whereby  the  same  person  was  to  act  as  president  of 
the  college  and  professor  of  theology,  the  trustees  accepting  the  con- 
ditions of  the  articles  of  union. 

The  general  body  responded  to  this  overture  in  the  same  spirit,  agree- 
ing that  for  the  professor's  place  of  residence  "Brunswick  is  the  most 
suitable  on  account  of  his  relation  to  Queen's  College  there  situated,  as 
well  as  for  the  students  in  regard  to  livelihood  and  other  circum- 
stances;" that  one  should  be  chosen  to  the  twofold  office  who  had  been 
recommended  by  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam ;  that  the  professor  of  the- 
ology will  at  the  same  time  be  and  remain  jiresident  of  the  college; 
and  alwso  that  the  reverend  body  would  make  efforts  to  increase  the 
fund  for  the  support  of  tlieir  professor,  for  which  the  trustees  had 
already  raised  the  sum  of  £4,000, 

But  the  times  were  not  favorable  for  carrying  this  plan  into  effect. 
The  country  was  not  only  poor,  but  it  was  in  a  state  of  alarm,  for  the 
Revolutionary  war  was  at  hand.  The  Classis  of  Amsterdam  and  the 
University  of  Utrecht,  in  answer  to  the  applications  of  the  convention 
and  of  the  trustees,  nominated  Dr.  John  H.  Livingston  for  the  profes- 
sorship of  theology,  as  better  fitted  for  that  oftice  than  any  divine  from 
the  Netherlands  could  be.  The  nomination  reached  the  general  con- 
vention in  Ajiril,  1775,  only  a  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Lexington 
had  been  fought.  The  convention  hastily  adjourned,  to  meet  again  in 
October  of  the  same  year  to  consider  the  M'hole  subject  of  the  profes- 
sorate.   At  that  meeting  nothing  was  done  in  the  matter.    The  minutes 


RUTGERS    COLLEGE.  293 

say:  "By  reason  of  the  pitiful  condition  of  our  land,  the  consideration 
of  the  subject  of  the  professorate  is  deferred."  It  was  deferred  for  nine 
years,  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

^Meanwhile  the  trustees  of  tlie  college  embraced  an  opportunity  that 
presented  itself  for  obtaining  a  president.  By  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
John  Leydt,  in  1783,  the  churches  of  New  Brunswick  and  Six  Mile 
Uun  had  become  vacant,  and  the  trustees,  being  unable  to  give  a  presi- 
dent an  independent  support,  agreed  with  the  consistories  of  these 
churches  to  elect  to  the  jiresidency  the  minister  whom  they  should  call 
to  be  their  pastor.  They,  however,  signified  their  preference  for  Dr. 
Jacob  R.  Ilardeubergh.  The  consistories  preferred  Dr.  Dick  Romeyu, 
of  Hackensack,  and  called  him,  and  he  was  accordingly  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  college.  He  declined  these  calls  and  soon  after  removed  to 
Schenectady,  where  he  became  the  founder  of  Union  College. 

In  1784,  the  synod — for  the  convention  had  now  assumed  this  title — 
elected  Dr.  John  H.  Livingston  professor  of  theology.  The  trustees 
now  hoped  that  the  proposed  plan  of  1773  might  be  carried  into  effect, 
and  signified  their  readiness  to  fulfill  their  i)art,  and  to  elect  Dr.  Living- 
ston president  of  the  college.  But  the  synod  declined  to  enter  into  the 
arrangement.  It  resolved  that  their  jirofessor  should  remain  in  New 
York,  the  consistory  there  seeing  to  his  support,  as  he  was  to  continue  to 
be  their  pastor.  At  the  same  time  it  was  resolved  to  render  assistance 
to  Queen's  College,  and  also  to  the  proposed  college  at  Schenectady, 
which  would  be  "at  a  proper  distance  from  Queen's  College.''  Dr. 
Livingston  consequently  taught  students  of  divinity  in  his  own  house 
in  New  York,  and  for  a  short  time  at  Flatbush,  Long  Island,  until  his 
removal  to  New  Brunswick  in  1810. 

The  trustees,  feeling  that  it  was  imperatively  necessary  that  the  col- 
lege should  have  a  president,  promptly  took  measures  to  procure  one. 
They  agreed  with  the  church  of  New  Brunswick,  which  had  separated 
from  that  of  Six  Mile  Run,  to  make  a  joint  call  on  Dr.  Ilardenbergh, 
This  was  accepted  by  him  February  9,  1786.  He  Avas  pastor  of  ihe 
church  in  New  Brunswick  and  first  president  of  the  college  until  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1790. 

The  college  now  remained  without  a  president  during  twentj^  years. 
Immediately  after  the  death  of  President  Hardenbergh  an  effort  was 
made  to  obtain  Dr.  Livingston  to  succeed  him  as  pastor  and  president, 
but  it  failed,  when  an  effort  was  made  to  obtain  Dr.  Romeyn,  which 
also  failed.  Rev.  Dr.  Linn,  one  of  the  trustees,  presided  at  two  or  three 
commencements.  The  synod  was  appealed  to  in  vain  to  carry  out  the 
plan  of  1773,  when  a  union  with  Princeton  College  was  discussed  by 
the  trustees  and  decided  unfovorably.  Instruction  was  given  by  tutors. 
In  1791  Dr.  Ira  Condect,  pastor  of  the  church  at  New  Brunswick,  was 
appointed  professor  of  moral  philosophy  and  superintendent,  with 
authority  to  employ  tutors.  The  next  year  (1795)  the  college  was 
closed  and  so  remained  until  1807. 

The  trustees  felt  the    importance    of  the    grammar   school.     They 


294  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

aimed  to  secure  good  teachers  for  it,  and  they  kept  it  iu  operation 
when  the  college  was  closed.  Andrew  Kirlipatrick,  afterwards  the 
able  chief  justice  of  ]^ew  Jersey,  had  charge  of  it  for  several  years.  In 
178G  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lindsley,  who  was  followed  by 
Mr.  Ogilvie,  and  after  him  by  Mr.  Stevenson.  The  Eev.  John  Croes, 
rector  of  Christ  Church  (Episcopal),  l^ew  Brunswick,  afterwards  bishop 
of  the  Episcoi)al  Church  in  Xew  Jersey,  conducted  the  school  from 
1801  to  1808.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  college  and  rendered 
valuable  service  in  reviving  it. 

We  euter  now  (1807)  upon  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  college. 
It  was  resuscitated  and  started  on  a  new  career  of  usefulness,  A  new 
and  commodious  building  was  felt  to  be  a  prime  necessity.  The  first 
one  occupied  by  the  college  stood  at  the  corner  of  George  and  Schure- 
mau  streets,  near  the  location  of  the  soldiers'  monument.  Tradition 
says  that  this  was  burned  by  the  British  during  the  war.  A  plain 
frame  building  was  subsequently  erected  on  the  same  site.  This  wa& 
occupied  by  the  grammar  school  and  college  until  1811,  when  it  was- 
sold  to  the  city,  removed  below  George  street  in  Schuremau,  and  used 
many  years  for  a  Lancasterian  school.  Part  of  it  still  remains ;  part  has 
lately  been  taken  down  to  make  way  for  an  addition  to  the  tire  engine 
house  on  the  corner. 

The  trustees  determined  to  erect  a  building  at  a  cost  of  $12,000. 
They  were  well  aware  that  this  sum  could  not  be  raised  without  a 
united  and  vigorous  eflbrt  on  the  part  of  all  the  friends  of  the  college 
and  the  cooperation  of  the  whole  Dutch  Church.  They  therefore 
applied  to  the  synod  for  encouragement  and  help.  That  body  favored 
the  application  and  recommended  and  enjoined  all  the  ministers  to  aid 
the  agents  of  the  college  in  raising  the  necessary  funds.  An  agree- 
ment was  entered  into  by  the  synod  and  trustees,  known  as  the  cove- 
nant of  1807, 

tlie  priucipal  stipulations  of  whlcli  were  *  *  *  that  all  funds  raised  for  the  col- 
lege in  New  York  should  be  exclusively  appropriated  to  the  sujiport  of  a  theological 
professorship  in  the  college,  and  the  assistance  of  young  men  desirous  of  entering 
into  the  ministry;  that  the  trustees  should  appoint  no  professor  of  theology  but 
such  as  should  be  nominated  by  the  synod;  that  the  jjermanent  professor  of  theol- 
ogy of  the  synod  should  be  located  at  New  Brunswick;  that  the  trustees  should  call 
the  professor  appointed  by  the  synod  as  soon  as  they  obtained  a  fund  sufficient  for 
his  support,  which  call  synod  requested  that  he  should  forthwith  accept;  that  a 
board  of  superintendents  of  the  theological  institution  in  Queen's  College  should 
be  appointed  by  synod  to  examine  theological  candidates,  etc.,  and  that  synod  should 
provide  money  to  purchase  a  theological  library  and  for  erecting  a  theological  hall, 
or  contribute  their  proportion  toward  erecting  a  building  for  their  joint  accommo- 
dation. 

The  general  synod  sent  an  able  and  stirring  address  to  the  churches^ 
which  was  promptly  responded  to  in  the  form  of  liberal  subscriptions, 
and  the  trustees  were  encouraged  not  only  to  prosecute  vigorously  the 
erection  of  the  new  building,  but  also  at  once  to  revive  instruction  iu 
the  college.     Dr.  Coudict  was  placed  iu  charge  of  the  highest  class,  liis^ 


RUTGERS    COLLEGE.  295 

son,  Daniel  Harrison  Condict,  was  appointed  tutor,  and  Dr.  Robert 
Adrain  was  made  professor  of  matliematics.  Dr.  Livingston  was 
again  elected  to  the  presidency,  bnt  at  first  declined.  Dr.  Condict  was 
tben  invited  to  it,  but  be  declined,  feeling  tbat  lie  could  not  undertake 
the  work  connected  with  so  responsible  a  ]^osition  and  at  the  same 
time  do  justice  to  the  large  congregation  of  which  he  was  pastor.  How 
can  the  debt  which  the  college  and  church  owe  to  this  eminent  and 
faithful  man  be  estimated!  He  was  thechief  instrument  in  the  revi- 
val of  the  college.  He  taught  in  it  during  three  years.  He  was  instru- 
mental in  securing,  as  a  gitt  from  the  estate  of  James  Parker,  sr.,  of 
Perth  Amboy,  5  acres,  which,  with  the  addition  of  l.\-  acres  of  ground, 
now  forms  the  beautiful  campus,  as  well  as  in  starting  and  urging  to 
completion  the  noble  building  known  as  Queen's.  He  was  indefatiga- 
ble in  collecting  moneys,  and  in  various  ways  working  in  season  and 
out  of  season  for  the  college  he  loved  so  dearly.  In  fact,  lie  gave  his 
life  for  it.  Worn  out  by  cares  and  labors,  his  Heavenly  Father  took 
him  home  June  1,  1811,  before  he  had  reached  his  4Sth  year.  He  lived 
to  see  the  buikling  whose  corner  stone  had  been  laid  April  27,  ISOO, 
well-nigh  completed. 

Dr.  Livingston  at  length  accepted  a  renewed  call  to  tiie  presidency, 
and  removed  to  New  Brunswick  in  1810.  He  devoted  himself  to  his 
work  as  professor  of  theology.  He  made  it  a  condition  that  he  should 
not  be  asked  to  do  more  as  president  tlian  sign  diplomas  and  preside 
at  compiencements,  while  the  burden  of  government  should  be  borne 
by  vice-presidents.  Dr.  Condict  had  acted  as  such  only  a  few  mouths 
before  his  death.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate  of  the  Dutch 
Church  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Schureman,  who  was  made  vice-president 
of  the  college  and  professor  of  moral  philosophy  and  belles-lettres. 
But  tlie  college  failed  to  prosper.  It  lacked  resources  and  i)atronage. 
After  nine  years  of  struggle  the  doors  were  again  closed  in  181G. 

After  a  season  Providence  opened  the  way  to  its  resuscitation  and 
continuous  active  life  to  the  present  time.  Dr.  Livingston  had  reached 
a  good  old  age,  and  he  was  anxious  to  see  the  theological  school  estab- 
lished on  a  secure  basis  before  he  should  b(!  called  away.  Ho  made  an 
appeal  to  the  churches  for  a  general  and  united  movement  toward 
securing  endowments  for  two  professorships  of  $2.j,000  each,  and  he 
enforced  his  appeal  by  a  liberal  subscription.  The  two  particular 
synods  of  New  York  and  Albany  vied  with  each  other  in  this  work, 
and  it  was  prosecuted  enthusiastically  and  indefatigably.  Ministers 
and  members  subscribed  liberally.  The  result  was  that  over  850,000 
was  subscribed  by  the  people  in  the  synods  of  New  York  and  Albany, 
and  a  third  professorship  was  established.  Just  after  this  had  been 
accomplished.  Dr.  Livingston  was  removed  by  death,  January  20, 1825. 

Rev.  Philip  Milledoler,  D.  D.,  a  pastor  of  the  Collegiate  Church,  Xew 
York  City,  was  elected  to  succeed  Dr.  Livingston  as  professor  of  didac- 
tic theology.     His  colleague.  Prof.  John  Dewitt,  sr.,  and  ho  deeply  felt 


296  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

the  importance  of  a  resuscitation  of  tbe  college  in  the  interest  of  theo- 
logical education.  They  signified  their  readiness  to  aid  in  the  matter 
by  accepting  professorships  in  the  college  and  giving  instruction  in 
various  branches  gratuitously.  This  generous  proposal  met  with  favor, 
and  Avhat  is  known  as  the  covenant  of  1825  was  mutually  agreed  upon 
by  the  general  synod  and  the  trustees.  It  was  provided  that  the  college 
edifice,  which  had  been  deeded  to  the  synod  by  the  trustees  in  consider- 
ation of  the  payment  by  the  synod  of  a  debt  owed  bj^  the  trustees, 
should  be  used  by  both  institutions;  that  the  theological  professors 
should  be  professors  in  the  college  as  well  as  in  the  theological  school; 
that  such  additional  professors  as  might  be  agreed  upon  should  be 
appointed  by  the  trustees;  and  that  one  of  the  professors  of  theology 
should  be  appointed  president  of  the  college. 

This  plan  was  faithfully  carried  out.  Dr.  Milledoler  was  elected 
president,  and  the  three  professors  of  theology  continued  for  many 
years  to  give  their  services  to  the  college.  Without  their  earnest 
cooperation  the  college  could  not  at  that  time  have  been  revived.  The 
(Jollegiate  Dutch  Church  paid  -$1,700  a  year  for  three  successive  years 
to  furnish  that  amount  of  income  while  subscrii)tions  to  the  endowment 
were  being  paid.  The  name  of  the  college  was  in  the  same  year  (1825) 
changed  from  Queen's  to  Rutgers  in  honor  of  its  liberal  benefactor,  Col. 
Henry  Rutgers,  of  New  York  City. 

The  college  entered  on  its  new  career  under  the  most  encouraging 
circumstances.  Students  came  to  it  from  various  parts  of  New  jJersey, 
from  New  York  City,  from  Albany,  and  from  the  counties  and  towns 
along  the  Hudson.  In  1833  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob  J.  Janeway  was  made  vice- 
president  and  professor  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity  and  political 
ecf>nomy  without  salary.  The  presidency  of  Dr.  jMilledoler  continued 
until  his  resignation  in  1840.  A  number  of  the  alumni  of  that  period  of 
fifteen  years  are  still  among  the  living,  and  some  of  them  have  attained 
to  higli  distinction.  They  love  to  speak  of  their  college  life  and  always 
allude  with  profound  respect  to  the  professors  whose  instructions  they 
enjoyed — Milledoler,  Dewitt,  Cannon,  McClelland,  Janeway,  Strong,^ 
Ogilby,  and  Beck. 

In  1839  the  covenant  of  1825  was  somewhat  modified.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  trustees  should  no  longer  be  required  to  appoint  one  of  the 
theological  professors  as  president.  The  whole  administration  of  the 
college  was  referred  to  the  trustees  without  synodical  supervision.  The 
theological  professors  were  released  from  the  obligation  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  the  college,  but  were  at  the  same  time  requested  by  the  synod  to 
continue  to  render  such  services  as  they  could  without  interfering  with 
other  duties.     The  synod,  while  retaining  the  title  to  the  property, 

'  Dr.  Theodore  Strong,  who  served  as  professor  of  luatliematies  from  1827  to  1863, 
was  one  of  the  most  distiuf^nishedmatheuiaticiaus  in  the  country.  liy  bis  "works  he 
was  knowu  on  both  continents,  and  he  was  selected  as  one  of  the  charter  ruembere 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Science. 


RUTGER8    COLLEGE.  297 

;guarauteed.  to  the  trustees  the  free  use  of  the  library  room,  the  chapel, 
aud  recitation  rooms.  They  also  engaged  not  to  sell  or  lease  the 
property''  without  the  consent  of  the  trustees. 

Dr.  Milledoler  having  resigned  the  office  of  president,  which  he  had 
satisfactorily  filled  during  sixteen  years,  was  in  1840  succeeded  by  the 
Hon.  Abraham  Bruyn  Hasbrouck,  LL.  D.,  of  Kingston,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Hasbrouck  was  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
he  managed  the  aftairs  of  the  college  with  great  wisdom  during  trying 
times.  He  was  an  able  teacber  of  constitutional  law  and  of  some 
other  branches;  he  was  well  versed  in  classical  and  general  literature; 
by  his  fairness  and  courteous  manners  he  Avon  the  conhdeuce  and  affec- 
tion of  his  iiupils.  During  his  administration  the  theological  professors 
continued  to  teach  in  the  college,  and  the  number  of  professors  was 
increased;  the  amount  of  endowment  was  somewhat  increased ;  a  house 
was  built  for  the  president,  now  known  as  the  fine  arts  building;  Van 
><'est  Hail  was,  through  the  efforts  of  the  alumni,  erected  to  accommo- 
date the  Peithessophian  and  Philoclean  societies,  and  for  some  other 
purposes. 

Dr.  Hasbrouck  resigned  the  presidency  in  1850  and  thenceforth  lived 
in  retirement  in  his  beautiful  place  of  St.  Eemy,  a  few  miles  from 
Kingston.  He  died  at  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  February  23,  1879,  "trium- 
phant in  faith,  lull  of  years  aud  honors." 

The  successor  of  President  Hasbrouck  was  the  Hon.  Theodore  Fre- 
linghnysen,  LL.  D.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  was  a  son  of  Gen.  Frederick 
Frelinghuysen  and  grandson  of  the  Eev.  John  Frelinghuysen.  He  was 
a  native  of  Somerset  County  and  spent  his  boyhood  at  Millstone.  He 
was  prepared  for  college  at  the  grammar  school  in  Kew  Brunswick  aud 
the  academy  at  Basking  Kidge.  Queen's  College  not  being  in  operation 
at  the  time,  he  entered  Princeton  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1804.  He  was  attorney-general  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  from 
1817  to  1829;  was  United  States  Senator  1829-1835;  was  chancellor  of 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  1839-1850,  aud  president  of 
Eutgers  College  from  1850  to  his  death,  which  occurred  April  12,  18G1. 
He  was  wise  in  counsel,  eloquent  in  speech,  aud  iutensely  patriotic. 
He  was  the  Whig  nominee  for  the  Vice-Presidency  in  1844,  when  Henry 
Clay  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  Above  all,  he  was  an  humble, 
consistent,  and  zealous  Christian  and  honored  elder  in  the  church,  and 
president  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  His 
influence  for  good  on  the  college,  on  the  students,  aud  on  the  relations 
of  the  college  to  the  churches  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  denomination 
was  very  great.  During  his  presidency  the  number  of  students  was 
considerably  increased.  Peter  Hertzog  Hall,  built  for  the  use  of  the 
theological  seminary,  had  been  completed  in  185(5,  and  thenceforth  the 
Queen's  College  building  was  exclusively  used  for  the  work  of  the  college. 

President  Frelinghuysen  was  succeeded  in  1803  by  the  Eev.  William 
Henry  Campbell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.     He  was  born  in  Baltimore  iu  L"08; 


298  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

was  graduated  from  Dickinson  College  in  1828,  and  subsequently  from 
the  theological  seminary  at  Princeton.  The  first  two  years  of  his  min- 
isterial life  were  spent  with  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  Chitte- 
uaugo,  N.  Y. ;  he  was  principal  of  Erasmus  Hall,  at  Flatbush,  Long 
Island,  1833-1839;  was  pastor  of  the  Cliurch  of  East  :N^ew  York,  1839- 
1841;  was  pastor  of  the  Third  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  of  Albany, 
1841-1848;  was  principal  of  the  Albany  Academy,  1848-1851;  was  pro- 
fessor of  biblical  literature  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, 1851-18G3,  and  during  the  same  period  professor  of  belles-lettres 
in  Rutgers  College;  was  president  of  Rutgers  College  from  18G3  to  the 
time  of  his  resignation,  in  1881.  He  also  taught  moral  philosoi)hy  and 
the  evidences  of  Christianity  in  the  college.  In  view  of  the  great  serv- 
ice that  he  had  rendered  to  the  college,  individual  trustees  provided  the 
means  for  his  support  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Unable  to 
continue  inactive,  notwithstanding  his  age,  he  look  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  newly  organized  Suydam  Street  Reformed  Church,  which  he 
served  until  increasing  infirmities  compelled  his  resignation.  His  death 
took  place  December  7, 1800,  soon  after  he  had  seen  his  son,  Rev.  Alan 
D.  Campbell,  installed  as  his  successor. 

On  entering  the  ollice  of  president,  he  saw  at  once  that  if  the  col- 
lege was  to  succeed  and  hold  its  rank  among  similar  institutions  its 
resources  and  facilities  must  be  greatly  increased.  He  formed  his 
plans  for  a  large  increase  of  endowment  and  carried  them  out  with  great 
wisdom,  perseverance,  and  success.  The  churches  in  the  Reformed 
Dutch  denomination  were  systematically  visited  by  agents  in  the 
various  classes,  he  himself  working  indefatigably.  The  result  was  a 
"uew  endowment  fund"  amounting  to  $144,758.  Very  much  of  the 
moneys  were  raised  by  perpetual  scholarships  of  8500  each  and  limited 
scholarships  of  8100,  entitling  all  the  sons  of  a  donor  to  free  tuition 
for  the  four  years  of  the  college  course.  This  endowment  raised  the 
college  above  pecuniary  embarrassment  for  the  time,  opened  the  way 
for  the  enlargement  of  the  course  of  studies,  for  the  establishment 
of  new  professorships,  and  for  an  increase  in  the  number  of  students. 

The  administration  of  President  Campbell  thus  marked  a  new  era 
in  the  history  of  the  college,  though  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  the 
administrations  of  Presidents  Hasbrouck  and  Frelinghuysen  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  it  and  made  the  time  propitious. 

In  1804  the  general  synod  retransferred  to  the  trustees  of  the  college 
the  title  to  the  ground;?  and  buildings  which  the  latter  had  during 
many  years  gratuitously  occupied.  The  trustees  on  their  part  engaged 
that  the  property  should  never  be  used  for  any  other  purpose  than 
that  of  collegiate  education;  that  the  president  should,  as  required  by 
the  charter,  always  be  a  member  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church;  and 
that  three-fourths  of  the  trustees  should  always  be  members  in  full 
communion  in  the  above-mentioned  denomination.  This  last  condition 
has  since  been  modified  by  mutual  agreement  to  two  thirds  of  the 


RUTGERS    COLLEGE.  299 

trustees,  exclusive  of  the  three  members  ex  officio.'  In  the  followiug 
year  (18(35)  the  covenants  of  1807  and  1825  were  fornuilly  abrogated 
and  the  trustees  became  absolutely  independent  in  the  management  of 
the  affairs  of  the  college. 

In  1S63  the  department  called  the  "Kutgers  Scieutiflc  School"  was 
created  to  provide  a  scientific  and  practical  education  for  those  who  do 
not  desire  to  pursue  classical  studies. 

By  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  Jersej^  in  1865,  the 
State  college  "for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts" 
was  created,  and  it  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  trustees  of  Kutgers 
College,  under  supervision  of  a  board  of  visitors  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor, consisting  of  two  members  from  each  Congressional  district. 
This  State  college  was  established  in  order  to  carry  out  the  intent  of 
Congress  in  api^ropriating  j)ublic  lands  to  the  several  States  under 
what  is  known  as  the  Morrill  act.  The  leading  object  of  these  col- 
leges is — 

to  teach  such  branches  of  learniug  as  are  related  to  agriculture  aud  the  mechanic 
arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the  States  may  respectively  prescribe,  in 
order  to  promote  the  liljeral  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the 
several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life. 

The  lands  allotted  to  New  Jersey  were  sold  for  $11G,0U(),  which  sum 
is  invested  in  State  bonds  on  which  interest  is  paid  by  the  State  treas- 
urer for  the  support  of  the  college.  In  accordance  with  one  of  the 
conditions,  a  farm  of  100  acres  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Brunswick  was 
purchased  by  the  trustees,  on  which  experiments  for  the  illustration 
and  development  of  agriculture  are  continually  made,  the  results  of 
which  are  of  immense  benefit  to  the  State.  The  State  has  by  legisla- 
tive act  provided  for  the  expenses  of  tuition  of  two  students  from  each 
county,  to  be  selected  after  competitive  examinations.  Many  young 
men  have  been  and  are  availing  themselves  of  this  privilege.  The 
State  has  also  provided  a  commodious  and  well-equipped  building  for 
the  agricultural  experiment  station,  containing  laboratories  and  all 
facilities  for  professors  to  carry  on  their  work  in  biology,  botany,  ento- 
mology, iiualytical  chemistry,  electricity,  and  agriculture. 

The  classical  and  scientific  departments  are  carried  on  side  by  side, 
and  in  some  subjects  the  students  of  both  join  in  recitations  with  the 
same  professor.  Additional  professorships  have,  from  time  to  time, 
been  established  and  filled  as  they  were  demanded  and  the  resources 
of  the  college  allowed,  until  at  the  present  time  all  branches  taught 
in  our  best  colleges  in  their  classical  and  scientific  departments  are 
provided  for. 

A  centennial  celebration  of  the  history  of  the  college,  dating  from  the 
granting  of  the  second  charter,  was  observed  in  the  year  1870  with  great 
interest  and  enthusiasm.  On  that  occasion  an  admirable  historical 
discourse  was  delivered  by  Justice  Joseph  P.  Bradley,  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  1830. 

'  See  page  301. 


300  HISTORY    OF    EDUCA.TION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

President  Campbell  availed  himself  of  tlie  centennial  year  to  make 
another  eftbrt  for  the  increase  of  the  endowment.  Donors  of  $1,000 
Tvere  offered  i)ermanent  scholarships.  Trustees,  classes  of  graduates, 
and  friends  responded  liberally.  The  result  was  a  subscription  of 
$140,000,  almost  all  of  which  has  been  paid. 

This  was  soon  followed  by  a  bequest  from  Mrs.  Sophia  Astley  Kirk- 
jiatrick,  of  !New  Brunswick,  amounting  to  $75,000;  one  from  Abraham 
Yoorhees,  of  Six-mile  Eun,  of  $25,000  for  a  professorship,  and  of  $26,400 
for  a  fund  to  be  used  to  aid  indigent  students  for  the  ministry  during 
their  i^reparatory  course  in  college;  also  one  of  $20,000  from  Mr.  James 
Suydam.  Abraham  Yoorhees,  of  iSTew  Brunswick,  deeded  to  the 
trustees  a  house  and  lot,  which  were  sold  for  $9,000.  These  additions 
to  the  resources  of  the  college  enabled  the  trustees  to  increase  their 
facilities  by  converting  the  two  ends  of  Queens  building  into  lecture 
rooms;  erecting  the  Geological  Hall  and  Sophia  Astley  Kirkpatrick 
chapel  and  library;  improving  the  Grammar  School  building,  and  pro- 
curing the  home  for  the  students.  Another  effbit  for  the  increase  of 
endowment  was  initiated  at  the  close  of  Dr.  Campbell's  presidency, 
which  resulted  in  obtaining,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Sloan,  the  sum  of  $50,000. 

The  successor  of  President  Campbell  was  Merrill  Edwards  Gates, 
Ph.  D.,  LL.  D.,  who  was  inaugurated  June  20,  1882,  and  continued  in 
office  until  September,  1890,  wheu  he  resigned  to  accept  the  presidency 
of  Amherst  College.     Dr.  Gates  was  born  at  Warsaw,  N.  Y.,  April  6, 
1848;  was  graduated  from  Rochester  University  after  receiving  the 
highest  honors  in  1870.     He  immediately  accepted  the  principalship  of 
the  Albany  Academy,  which  position  he  held  during  twelve  years 
Under  his  administration  this  academy  was  exceptionally  prosperous 
President  Gates  is  eminent  for  scholarship,  literary  culture,  and  orator 
ical  power,  as  well  as  administrative  ability.     The  period  of  his  preSi 
dency  at  Eutgers  was  marked  by  a  high  order  of  Avork  by  the  studeits 
extension  of  the  curriculum,  and  an  increase  of  facilities  and  pi'ofessors 
The  increase  of  the  library  received  special  attention.     P.  Yanderbilt 
Spader,  es(i.,  presented  his  valuable  library  to  the  college.     The  com- 
modious agricultural  building  was  erected  by  the  State  on  a  site  given 
by  Mrs.  Catharine  Neilson  and  her  son  Mr.  James  ^N^eilson.     In  this 
building  the  professors,  supported  by  the  Hatch  fund  of  the  General 
Government,  have  their  laboratories  and  offices.     In  the  last  year  of 
Dr.  (iates's  presidency  (1890)  the  beautiful  and  commodious  Winauts 
Hall,  for  a  residence  for  students,  was  built  on  the  college  campus  by 
the  liberality  of  Mr.  Garret  Winants,  of  Bergen  Point,  ^N".  J. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  college  year  in  September,  1890,  Dr.  Gates 
having  resigned,  the  committee  on  instruction  and  discipline  placed 
the  institution  in  charge  of  the  senior  professor,  the  Eev.  Theodore  S. 
Doolittle,  D.  D.,  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  trustees.  The  board 
met  October  28, 1890,  and  elected  Professor  Doolittle  vice-president,  to 
act  as  president  until  one  should  be  chosen  to  the  office. 


RUTGERS    COLLEGE.  301 

Austin  Scott,  Pb.  D.,  LL.  D.,  the  present  president  of  tlie  college, 
was  born  at  Maamee,  near  Toledo,  Ohio.  He  was  graduated  from 
Yale  College  in  18(59,  and  spent  the  following  year  at  the  University  of 
Michigan,  from  which  ho  received  the  master's  degree  on  examination 
and  presentation  of  a  thesis.  The  next  three  years  were  spent  at  the 
universities  of  Berlin  and  Leipzig,  from  the  latter  of  which  he  received 
the  degree  of  Ph.  D.  on  examination  and  presentation  of  a  thesis.  He 
was  during  the  same  time  engaged  with  Mr.  George  Bancroft  in  the 
prei)aration  of  the  tenth  volume  of  his  History  of  the  United  States. 
In  1872  he  negotiated  the  i)rinting  of  the  Geneva  Award  Case  at 
Leipsic,  and  was  bearer  of  dispatches  to  Washington  containing  the 
decision  of  the  German  Emperor  as  arbitrator  in  the  dispute  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  over  the  Northwestern  boundary. 

From  1873  to  1875  Dr.  Scott  was  an  instructor  in  the  German  lan- 
guage in  the  University  of  Michigan.  From  1875  to  1881  he  was 
engaged  in  collecting  and  arranging  the  materials  for  Mr.  Bancroft's 
History  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  At  the  same  time  he 
was  associate  in  history  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  organizing 
in  it  a  seminary  of  American  History  and  conducting  its  work  from 
1876  to  1882.  In  1883  he  was  made  professor  of  history,  political  econ- 
omy, and  constitutional  law  in  Eutgers,  and  on  the  25th  of  Xovember, 
1890,  he  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  .college. 

He  has  since  that  time  been  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  college 
with  great  wisdom  and  energy,  and  its  work  has  never  been  performed 
more  successfully  than  at  the  present  time.  During  his  administration 
a  change  has  been  made  in  tlie  constitution  of  the  board  of  trustees 
whereby  two-thirds  of  the  number,  exclusive  of  the  trustees  ex  officio, 
must  be  communicants  in  the  Eeformed  (Dutch)  Church,  instead  of 
three-fourths  of  the  whole  number.  The  teaching  of  the  English  Bible 
has  been  introduced  into  the  curriculum.  College  extension  has  been 
introduced  and  is  carried  on  with  great  success.  By  arrangement  with 
the  theological  school  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  divinity  is  given  to 
students  of  that  institution  who  on  graduating  present  certiticates 
from  its  faculty  that  they  have  pursued  sj)ecial  studies  in  some  one 
department  under  the  direction  of  the  i^rofessor  in  that  department 
during  two  years,  and  have  successfully  passed  the  required  examina- 
tions and  presented  theses  that  have  been  accepted. 

The  president's  house,  having  become  undesirable  as  a  residence  on 
account  of  its  proximity  to  the  railway  station,  has  been  converted 
into  the  fine  arts  building.  Van  Nest  Hall  has  been  imj)roved  chiefly 
by  the  liberality  of  Mrs.  Ann  Bussing,  of  New  York  City.  A  stone 
wall  has  been  built  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  campus  by  the  liberality 
of  George  Buckham,  L.  H.  D.,  of  New  York  City,  a  graduate  of  the 
class  of  1832.  The  house  and  lot  adjoining  the  preparatory  school 
building  has  by  generous  contributions  from  friends  of  the  college  been 
purchased  for  the  accommodation  of  the  younger  scholars.  A  splendid 
and  thoroughly  equipped  gymnasium  has  been  built  by  the  liberality 


302  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

of  the  trustee,  Robert  F.  Ballantiue,  of  Newark,  X.  J.,  ou  ground  given 
for  the  purpose  by  James  Neilsou,  also  a  trustee.  It  is  iu  charge  of  a 
competent  instructor  in  physical  training.  Also,  by  the  liberality  of 
Mr.  Neilson,  the  students  have  the  use  of  the  spacious  Neilson  field 
for  athletic  sports  and  exercises. 

In  order  to  carry  out  their  plans  for  the  increased  efficiency  of  the 
college  the  trustees  need  a  large  addition  to  their  funds,  and  for  this 
they  are  at  the  present  time  appealing  to  the  friends  of  the  instituliou. 

Rutgers  College  is  not  a  sectarian  institution,  though  its  spirit  and 
influence  are  decidedly  favorable  to  evangelical  Christianity.  It  was 
chartered  originally  lor  the  purpose  of  preparing  young  men  for  the 
ministry  in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  so  a  professorship  of 
divinity  was  a  most  prominent  provision.  But  the  church  preferred 
to  establish  its  school  of  theology  independent  of  all  literary  institu- 
tions. So  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  college  has  confined  itself  to 
instruction  given  in  the  studies  that  properly  belong  to  the  curriculum 
of  every  college  of  arts  and  sciences.  By  its  charter  its  president  is 
required  to  be  a  member  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  and  by 
agreement  with  the  general  synod  two-thirds  of  the  trustees  are 
required  to  be  communicants  in  said  denomination.  So  far  it  is 
denominational.  But  it  is  not  under  the  direction  and  control  of  any 
ecclesiastical  body.  Among  the  students  are  found  men  of  all  denom 
inations,  and  men  outside  of  all  denominations.  And  they  find  no 
fault  with  the  salutary  religious  influence  of  the  college.  Besides  daily 
prayers,  public  services  are  held  in  the  chapel  every  Lord's  day  morn- 
ing, conducted  by  the  ministerial  members  of  the  faculty  and  professors 
in  the  theological  school.  A  weekly  Bible  class  is  maintained,  and 
students  have  their  prayer  meetings  and  other  religious  agencies. 
Invested  funds  are  held  and  administered  by  the  trustees  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  $50,000  to  aid  indigent  students  while  pursuing 
studies  preparatory  to  the  ministry  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church. 
The  college  has  for  many  years  been  the  chief  feeder  to  the  theological 
school,  furnishing  a  large  majority  of  its  students. 

For  accounts  in  detail  of  the  rich  collection  of  minerals,  shells,  coins, 
and  objects  from  natural  history;  of  the  librar}^,  containing-  32,000  vol- 
umes and  urgently  needing  a  new  and  more  commodious  building;  of 
fine  art  collections,  and  of  the  literary  societies,  readers  are  referred  to 
the  admirable  history  of  the  institution  prepared  by  the  late  Professor 
Doolittle  for  the  third  edition  of  Corwin's  Manual  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America,  and  to  the  annual  catalogue  of  the  college. 


Chapter  XI. 

SETON    HALL  COLLEGE.' 

This  imiiortaut  college  was  founded  in  1S5G,  nnder  the  active  leader- 
ship of  Right  Rev.  James  Roosevelt  Baj-ley,  then  the  bishop  of  the  new 
see  of  Newark.  When  Bishop  Bayley  entered  upon  the  administration 
of  his  new  duties  his  earliest  efforts  were  directed  toward  improving 
the  educational  facilities  of  the  diocese.  The  parochial  school  system, 
which  then  flourished  in  many  parishes  of  the  State,  received  substan- 
tial support  and  encouragement  from  him,  but  he  was  ambitious  to 
found  an  institution  where  the  graduates  of  these  parish  schools  could 
receive  a  higher  education  in  science,  literature,  and  arts.  Fortunately, 
he  had  with  him  at  this  time  as  his  eflBcient  aid  Rev.  Bernard  J. 
McQuaid,  now  the  bishop  of  Rochester.  The  first  step  taken  was 
to  purchase  the  buildings  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Academy  at  Madison, 
N.  J.,  and  here  the  college  was  formally  opened  September  1,  185(3. 
Five  students  answered  the  first  roll  call.  Before  the  end  of  the  month 
this  number  had  increased  to  25. 

Bishop  Bayley  named  the  college  "  Seton  Hall,"  in  honor  of  his  aunt. 
Mother  Elizabeth  (Bayley)  Seton,  who  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
William  Seton,  had  become  the  mother  superior  of  a  community  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  at  Emmittsburg,  Md. 

Father  McQuaid  became  the  first  president,  and  devoted  all  his 
splendid  energy  to  the  building  up  of  a  first-class  institution  of  learn- 
ing. Bishop  Bayley  gave  it  the  benefit  of  his  iutluence  and  active 
help  until,  in  1872,  he  was  transferred  to  the  archiepiscoi)al  see  of 
Baltimore.  He  died  in  1877  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  having  never,  even  to 
the  last,  lost  his  interest  in  and  affection  for  the  college  which  he  had 
founded. 

The  charter  of  the  college  was  granted  by  the  New  Jersey  legisla- 
ture in  1861.  It  incorporated  "James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  Patrick 
Moran,  Bernard  J.  McQuaid,  John  Mackin,  Michael  Madden,  Henry 
James  Anderson,  Orestes  A.  Brownson,  Edward  Thebaud,  jr.,  Daniel 

'  For  the  facts  cabout  Seton  Hall  College  I  am  indebted  to  the  officers  and  espe- 
ciallj^  to  Rev.  J.  A.  Stafford,  S.  T.  L.,  the  vice-president,  who  has  kindly  aided  me 
throughout,  read  the  manuscript  and  contributed  many  essential  particulars 

303 


304  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Coglilaii,  William  Duim,  Domiuic  Eggert,  Michael  J.  Ledwith,  and 
John  lliclimoud,  and  their  successors,  being  members  of  the'  Roman 
Catholic  Church,"  as  trustees  of  the  "  Seton  Hall  College."  It  invested 
these  trustees  with  the  management  of  its  affairs,  and  empowered 
them  to  confer  the  "  usual  academic  and  other  degrees  granted  by  any 
other  college  in  the  State." 

The  growth  of  the  college  soon  rendered  tiie  buildings  at  IMadison 
inadequate  to  its  wants.  lu  1860  a  new  site  in  the  Orange  Mountains, 
convenient  to  the  city  of  Newark,  was  fixed  upon  and  the  erection  ot 
the  necessary  buildings  was  at  once  begun.  The  college  was  opened  at 
its  new  site  September  10,  18G0,  with  CO  pupils  in  attendance.  It  had 
as  its  president  Rev.  B.  J.  McQuaid,  and  with  him  IG  professors  and 
tutors.  A  beautiful  new  chapel  was  built  in  18G3,  and  an  era  of 
unwonted  prosperity  seemed  to  have  set  in.  Even  during  the  trying- 
days  of  the  civil  war  Seton  Hall  continued  to  grow,  and  its  buildings 
had  to  be  enlarged  to  twice  their  original  size.  But  in  January,  18GG, 
a  fire  destroyed  the  beautiful  marble  villa  which  was  on  the  grounds 
when  they  were  originally  i)urchased  for  the  college.  Temporary 
quarters  were  i)rocured  for  the  departments  which  had  been  rendered 
homeless.  Father  McQuaid,  with  characteristic  energy,  set  himself  to 
raise  the  money  needed  to  restore  the  ruined  buildings.  The  occasion 
was  seized  to  make  the  new  structures  far  more  spacious  and  more 
architecturally  ornate  than  before.  In  due  time  the  beautiful  buildings 
were  complete  and  were  occupied  by  an  increased  number  of  intelligent 
and  ambitious  students. 

Nothing  occurred  to  mar  the  prosperity  of  this  career  for  many  years. 
In  March,  188G,  however,  another  fire  destroyed  the  principal  college 
building  and  most  of  its  contents.  Immediately  the  president.  Rev. 
James  H.  Corrigan,  sent  out  a  circular  soliciting  contributions  from 
the  friends  of  the  college  for  rebuilding  the  structure  which  had  been 
destroyed.  The  responses  were  prompt  and  liberal,  and  with  the  insur- 
ance received  for  tlie  loss  of  the  former  building  enabled  the  trustees 
to  i)roceed  at  once  with  the  erection  of  a  new  building. 

A  very  considerable  debt  remained  for  some  years  over  the  college. 
But  very  recently  this  lias  been  entirely  liquidated  and  the  institution 
freed  from  the  incumbrance. 

With  a  few  exceptions  the  professors  are  priests  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  the  college  is  distinctively  under  the  care  and  supervision 
of  the  Catholics.  The  benetactors  have  been  mainly  of  this  body,  but 
there  never  has  been  a  time  when  non-Catholic  students  have  not  com- 
posed a  part  of  the  undergraduate  attendance. 

The  students  almost  invariably  room  in  the  dormitories  of  the  college 
and  take  their  meals  in  the  college  refectory.  The  dues  paid  by  the 
students  serve  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  table  and  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  the  class-room  instruction. 


SETON    HALL    COLLLGE.  305 

A  considerable  number  of  prizes  have  been  founded  from  time  to 
time  by  the  friends  of  the  college.  The  principal  of  these  prizes  are 
as  follows : 

1.  The  Hamilton-Ahern  gold  medal,  for  good  conduct,  founded  in 
1865  by  Messrs.  Robert  Hamilton  of  Sacramento,  Cal.,  and  S.  J.  Ahern, 
of  Elizabeth,  :^^.  J. 

2.  The  Bossier  gold  and  silver  medals,  founded  in  1865  by  A.  Bossier, 
esq.,  of  Havana,  Cuba,  for  the  best  recitation  in  the  German  classes. 

3.  The  prize  for  Christian  doctrine,  founded  in  1870  by  the  Right 
Rev.  Mgr.  Robert  Seton,  D.  D.,  prothonotary  apostolic. 

4.  The  Greek  prize,  founded  in  1871  by  the  Most  Rev.  J.  Roosevelt 
Bay  ley,  D.  D. 

5.  The  philosophical  prize,  founded  in  1871  by  the  Eight  Rev.  B.  J. 
McQuaid,  I).  D.,  Bishop  of  Rochester. 

6.  The  logic  prize,  founded  in  1871. 

7.  The  oratorical  prize,  founded  in  1871  by  Rev.  P.  Byrne. 

8.  The  prize  for  natural  science,  founded  in  1871  by  P.  Barry,  esq., 
of  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

9.  The  prize  for  the  best  recitation  in  the  freshman  class,  founded  in 
1871  by  the  Most  Rev.  M.  A.  Corrigan,  D.  D.,  Archbishop  of  New  York. 

10.  The  ethical  prize,  founded  in  1872  by  the  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Thomas 
S.  Preston,  V.  G.,  of  New  York. 

11.  The  historical  prize,  founded  in  1873  by  Mrs.  Kate  Bruuer,  of 
New  York. 

The  medals  for  good  conduct  are  decided  by  the  votes  of  the  students. 
The  other  medals  are  decided  by  the  standing  of  the  students  in  class 
during  the  whole  year,  and  by  written  and  oral  exannnations  at  the 
end  of  each  term. 

Associated  with  Seton  Hall  College  is  the  "Diocesan  Seminary  of  tlie 
Immaculate  Conception,''  which  has  no  separate  corporation  existence 
from  the  college.  The  students  are  supported  by  the  college,  in 
return  for  which  the  right  reverend  bishop  pays  $250  for  each  of  the 
seminarians  so  supported  and  educated,  from  a  seminary  fund  derived 
from  a  tax  upon  the  various  parishes  of  the  diocese.  A  number  of 
"burses"  have  also  been  founded  to  promote  the  edncatiou  of  priests 
in  the  seminary.  A  burse  consists  of  $5,000,  and  many  of  these  funds- 
have  been  instituted  by  the  friends  of  the  college  and  seminary. 

Seton  Hall  College  has  had  more  than  its  share  of  distinguished  men 
connected  with  it,  either  officially  or  as  students.  The  right  reverend 
bishop  of  Newark  has  always  made  his  home  within  her  walls,  and  has 
been  ex  officio  president  of  her  board  of  trustees.  In  this  way  the 
Right  Rev.  Bishops  Bayley,  Corrigan,  and  Wigger  have  successively 
occupied  this  supervisory  position.  The  presidents  of  the  college  have 
been  as  follows :  (1)  Rev.  Bernard  J.Mc(^iaid,  A.M., now  bishopof  Roch- 
ester, 1856  to  1808;  (2)  Most  Rev.  Michael  Augustine  Corrigan,  D.  D.y 
20687— No.  23 20 


306  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

HOW  arclibishop  of  'Sew  York,  1808  to  1874;  (3)  Rev.  James  H.  Corri- 
gan,  A.  M.,  1874  to  1888;  (4)  Eev.  William  F.  Marshall,  A.  M.,  1888. 

To  these  eminent  men  we  add  in  closing  tliis  sketch  the  names  of  the 
present  professors  in  the  faculty:  (1)  liev.  William  P.  Marshall,  A.  M., 
president;  (2)  Rev.  John  A.  Stafford,  S.  T.  L.,  vice-president  and  dis- 
ciplinarian; (3)  Rev.  Joseph  J.  Synnott,  D.  D.,  professor  of  English; 

(4)  Rev.  Henry  C  Phelan,  D.  D.,  professor  of  Latin  and  English; 

(5)  Rev.  Charles  H.  Mackee,  S.  T.  L.,  professor  of  philosophy;  (6)  Rev. 
George  Doane  O'Neill,  A.  M.,  professor  of  English,  Latin,  and  Greek. 
The  above  clerical  j)rofessors  are  assisted  by  a  corj)s  of  competent  lay 
professors  and  tutors  in  the  various  branches  of  natural  science,  mathe- 
matics, and  music. 

The  number  of  students  in  attendance  during  the  academic  year 
1894-95  was  160,  and  in  the  Seminary  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  35. 


Chapter  XII. 

THE   STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF  TECHNOLOGY. 


Bv  President  Henry  Morton. 


The  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology  owes  its  existence  to  the  munifi- 
cence of  Mr.  Edwin  A.  Stevens,  of  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  who,  in  his  will, 
dated  April  15,  18G7,  bequeathed  a  block  of  ground  between  Fifth  and 
Sixth  and  Hudson  and  Kiver  streets,  Hoboken,  and  $150,000  for  the 
erection  of  buildings  "  suitable  for  the  uses  of  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing," and  also  such  sum  of  money,  not  to  exceed  $500,000,  as  his  ex- 
ecutors might  consider  necessary  for  maintaining  said  institution  of 
learning. 

Mr.  Stevens's  executors,  being  his  widow,  Mrs.  Martha  B.  Stevens, 
Mr.  W.  W.  Shippen,  and  the  iiev.  Samuel  B.  Dod,  considered  the  entire 
sum  of  $500,000  necessary,  and  accordingly  appropriated  it  as  an 
endowment  fund  totliis  institution,  but  the  United  States  Government 
shortly  afterwards  demanded  and  collected  about  $45,000  as  a  collateral 
inheritance  tax,  diminishing  the  endowment  by  that  amount.  Numer- 
ous efforts  have  been  made  to  secure  the  return  of  this  money  from  the 
Treasury  of  the  Government,  but  without  success. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1870,  tlie  trustees,  having  obtained  a  plan  of 
building  from  a  prominent  architect  and  made  good  progress  with  its 
erection,  selected  Prof.  Henry  Morton,  Ph.  1).  (then  occupying  the 
chair  of  chemistry  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  office 
of  resident  secretary  of  the  Franklin  Institute),  as  president  of  the 
"institution  of  learning"  which  they  were  to  create  under  the  will  of 
Mr.  Stevens  and  a  charter  from  the  State  of  New  Jersey  (approved 
February  15,  1870),  and  to  which  they  had  given  the  name  of  "The 
Stevens  Institute  of  Technology." 

During  the  summer  of  1870  and  the  succeeding  seasons  of  1870  and 
1871  the  building  was  completed  and  furnished  and  a  faculty  selected, 
so  that  by  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1871  all  was  ready  for  operation. 

On  the  third  Wednesday  of  September,  1871,  the  Stevens  Institute 

307 


308  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

of  Technology  began  its  active  existence  as  a  school  of  mechanical 
engineering,  with  the  following  officers: 

Trustees. — Mrs.  E.  A.  Stevens,  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Dod,  William  W.  Shippen. 

Faculty. — Henry  Morton,  Ph.  D.,  president;  Alfred  M.  Mayer,  Ph.  D.,  professor  of 
physics;  Lieut.  Col.  H.  A.  Hascall,  United  States  Army,  professor  of  mathematics; 
Albert  R.  Leeds,  A.  M.,  professor  of  chemistry;  Robert  H.  Thurston,  C.  E.,  i)rofessor 
of  mechanical  engineering;  Charles  W.  MacCord,  A.  M.,  professor  of  mechanical 
drawing;  Charles  F.  Kroeh,  A.  M.,  professor  of  languages;  Rev.  Edward  Wall,  A.  M., 
prolessor  of  belles-lettres. 

Eealizing  the  necessity  of  a  preparatory  school  of  some  sort  under 
the  control  of  the  institute,  arraugeiuents  were  made,  contemporane- 
ously with  the  openiug-  of  the  institute,  by  which  a  preparatory  school 
already  in  existence  was  placed  under  the  uianagement  of  Professor 
Wall,  as  the  Stevens  Institute  High  School. 

During  the  college  year  1872-73  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hascall  resigned 
on  account  of  ill  health,  and  Prof.  De  Volson  Wood,  C.  E.,  of  the 
Michigan  State  University,  Ann  Arbor,  was  appointed  to  the  chair  of 
mathematics  and  mechanics. 

During  these  same  years,  1872-73,  the  east  wing  -oi  the  institute 
building  was  erected  and  occupied  by  the  Stevens  Institute  High 
School,  which  was  removed  from  its  temporary  location  at  Sixth  and 
Garden  streets. 

In  1875  a  mechanical  laboratory  was  established  at  the  suggestion  of 
Professor  Thurston  in  connection  with  his  department  of  mechanical 
engineering,  and  Professor  Thurston,  as  director  of  this  laboratory, 
conducted  therein  nuuierous  investigations  for  scientific  ami  commer- 
cial purposes,  the  results  of  which  were  from  time  to  time  published  in 
various  engineering  journals  or  like  organs.  Considerable  additions 
were  also  made  to  the  machinery  of  the  <lepartment  through  the  busi- 
ness of  this  mechanical  laboratory. 

During  the  years  from  the  opening  of  the  institute  to  1876,  inclusive, 
many  original  researches  had  been  made  and  published  by  various 
members  of  the  faculty,  so  that  when,  in  the  catalogue  of  that  year,  a 
list  of  the  titles  of  such  publications  was  printed  it  occupied  ten  large 
pages.  The  printing  of  this  list,  with  additions,  as  new  i)apers  were 
published,  was  continued  until  1879,  when  it  was  discontinued  in  order 
to  decrease  the  bulk  of  the  catalogue.  It  had  then  reached  the  dimen- 
sions of  sixteen  large  pages. 

In  187G  the  institute  sent  to  the  Centennial  Exhibition  at  Philadel- 
phia an  exhibit  consisting  of  api)aratus  and  instruments  of  research, 
and  also  of  drawings  and  pieces  of  machinery,  the  work  of  students, 
sufficiently  extensive  to  fill  an  ordinary  freight  car. 

In  1880  an  addition  was  made  to  the  faculty  of  the  institution  by  the 
appointment  of  Prof.  James  E.  Denton,  M.  E,,  a  graduate  of  the  insti 
tute  in  1875,  as  instructor  in  experimental  mechanics  and  shop  work, 
and  during  the  same  college  year  of  18S0-8L  the  workshops  of  the  insti- 
tute, which  had  before  occupied  the  east  basement,  were  transferred 
to  their  present  location. 


STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF    TECHNOLOGY.  309 

Originally  this  location  liad  been  fitted  up  as  a  lecture  room  for  pub- 
lic lectures,  and  liad  been  so  used  in  the  early  days  of  the  institute. 
Being  afterwards  little  used  for  this  purpose,  it  was  converted  into  a 
gymnasium,  but  in  this  shape  also  soon  ceased  to  be  utilized  to  any 
adequate  extent.  When,  therefore,  on  the  extension  of  the  institute 
course  in  the  direction  of  applied  mechanics,  it  became  very  desirable 
greatly  to  increase  the  workshop  facilities  of  the  institute,  the  trustees 
willingly  accepted  a  i^roposition  from  President  Morton  to  alter  the 
gymnasium  by  building  galleries,  etc.,  and  fit  it  up  with  steam  engines, 
machine  and  other  tools  at  his  own  expense.  This  was  done  at  an  out- 
lay of  about  $10,500,  and  the  new  workshop  was  formally  presented  to 
the  trustees  by  President  Morton  on  the  14th  of  May,  1881. 

In  1882  another  addition  was  made  to  the  faculty  of  the  institute  by 
the  appointment  of  Prof.  A.  Riesenberger,  M.  E.,  a  graduate  of  the 
institute  in  1876,  as  instructor  in  mechanical  drawing. 

In  1883  a  further  addition  was  made  to  the  faculty  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Prof.  Clarence  A.  Carr,  assistant  engineer.  United  States  Xavy, 
as  professor  of  marine  engineering  and  instructor  in  mathematics;  and 
also  by  the  appointment  of  Prof.  Wm.  E.  Geyer,  Ph.  D.,  as  jDrofessor  of 
a])plied  electricity. 

In  connection  with  this  last  appointment  and  to  aid  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  new  department  of  applied  electricity,  President  Morton 
donated  to  the  institution,  for  the  purchase  of  new  apparatus  and 
other  expenses,  something  over  $3,500,  which  sufficed  to  carry  on  this 
department  until  the  general  resources  of  the  institute  were  able  to 
sui)port  it. 

Mr.  ])enton's  title  was  also  changed  from  instructor  to  professor  at 
this  time. 

On  the  2d  of  September,  1885,  the  trustees  lost  by  death  Mr.  Wm.  W. 
Shippen,  and  some  months  afterwards  elected  President  Morton  to  till 
the  vacancy  thus  occasioned. 

In  1886  two  changes  occurred  in  the  personnel  of  the  faculty:  Prof. 
K.  H.  Thurston  resigned  the  chair  of  mechanical  engineering,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Prof.  l)e  Volson  Wood,  whose  former  chair  of  mathe- 
matics and  mechanics  was  filled  by  the  appointment  thereto  of  Prot 
J.  Burkitt  Webb,  formerly  of  Cornell  University. 

Professor  Carr,  being  recalled  by  the  Xavy  Department,  also  resigned 
his  chair,  and  was  replaced  by  Prof.  William  il.  Bristol,  M.  E.,  a 
graduate  of  the  institute  in  1884,  who  was  appointed  instructor  in 
mathematics. 

In  1887  the  trustees  decided  to  increase  their  number  by  electing  an 
additional  trustee  from  among  the  alumni  of,  the  institute,  such 
alum<u>us  trustee  to  be  selected  from  two  or  more  who  should  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  alumni  association  of  the  institute. 

In  accordance  with  this  plan,  Mr.  A.  P.  Trautwein,  M.  E.,  of  the 
class  of  1876,  was  duly  elected  a  trustee  October  12,  1887. 


310  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

During  the  suminer  and  fall  of  1887  and  winter  of  1888  a  new  build- 
ing was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $50,000  for  the  accomodation  of  the  high 
school,  and  it  was  occupied  after  the  Easter  holidays  of  1888. 

During  the  summer  of  1888  the  wing  formerly  occupied  by  the  high 
school  was  fitted  up  on  its  first  and  second  floors  as  an  electrical  lab- ' 
oratory  and  lecture  room  respectively,  and  on   its   third  floor   as   a 
mathematical  laboratory  and  lecture  room. 

Extensive  changes  were  also  made  in  other  places  of  the  building, 
such,  for  example,  as  those  to  increase  its  security  against  fire  by  the 
erection  of  four  "party  walls,"  iron-plated  doors,  and  the  like;  also 
other  alterations  and  additions  such  as  the  rearrangement  of  cases  and 
tables  in  the  library,  the  erection  of  a  set  of  post-oftice  boxes,  etc. 

In  1887  other  additions  were  made  to  the  faculty  by  the  ap])oint- 
meut  of  Prof,  Thomas  B.  Stillmau,  Ph.  D.,  to  the  chair  of  analytical 
chemistry,  and  by  the  appointment  of  Prof.  D.  S.  Jacobus,  M.  E., 
a  graduate  of  the  institute  in  1884,  as  instructor  in  experimental 
mechanics  and  shopwork. 

In  1888  the  titles  of  Messrs.  Rieseuberger,  Bristol,  and  Jacobus  were 
changed  from  "instructor"  to  "assistant  professor." 

A  new  chair  was  also  established  under  the  title  of  engineering- 
practice,  and  the  sum  of  $10,000  was  donated  to  the  trustees  by  Presi- 
dent Morton  as  a  first  installment  toward  the  endowment  of  the  same. 

Mr.  Coleman  Sellers,  E.  D.,  was  elected  to  this  chair,  and  delivered 
his  first  course  of  lectures  dnring  the  fall  of  1880. 

In  1892  President  Morton  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees  the 
sum  of  $20,000  as  a  further  endowment  of  the  chair  of  engineering 
practice,  and  in  the  same  year  the  board  of  trustees  was  enlarged  by 
the  election  of  the  following  gentlemen :  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  A.  C. 
Humphreys,  M.  E.,  Charles  Macdonald,  C.  E.,  Hon.  A.  T.  McGill,,^ 
Chancellor  of  New  Jersey,  and  Mr.  Edwin  A.  Stevens. 

In  1893  the  number  of  alumni  trustees  was  increased  to  three. 

During  July  and  August  of  1893  a  new  building  was  added  to  the 
institute  structures,  accommodating  the  dynamo  machines  and  motors 
of  the  electrical  department  on  its  ground  floor  and  giving  a  large 
class  room  and  oflice  for  the  department  of  languages  on  its  second 
floor.  The  shop  gallery  was  also  converted  into  a  complete  second  floor, 
in  which  were  arranged  a  class  room  and  oilices  for  the  department  of 
applied  mechanics  and  a  woodworking  shop. 

These  and  other  alterations  rendered  it  possible  to  divide  the  classes 
into  two  sections,  so  as  to  double  the  efficient  capacity  of  the  institute. 

Prior  to  this,  about  30  per  cent  of  the  well-prepared  applicants  had 
for  some  years  been  rejected  for  lack  of  accommodation. 

The  develoj)ment  of  the  course  of  instruction  at  the  institute  during 
the  quarter  century  of  its  existence  may  be  appreciated,  among  other 
things,  by  a  comparison  of  its  list  of  trustees  and  faculty,  as  it  appears 
in  the  catalogue  for  1895,  with  that  given  at  the  opening  of  this  sketch. 


STEVENS    INSTITUTE    OF    TECHNOLOGY.  311 

Trustees  and  faculty  of  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  1895, 
are  as  follows : 

Board  of  trustees. — S.  B.  Dod,  president;  Andrew  Carno{i;ie,  vice-president;  Henry 
Morton,  Ph.  D.,  secretary;  E.  A.  Stevens,  treasurer. 

Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  New  York  City;  Mr.  S.  li.  Dod,  Hoboken;  Mr.  William 
Hewitt,  M.  E.,  Trenton,  N.  J.;  Mr.  Alexander  C.  Humphreys,  M.  E.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa. ;  Hon.  Alexander  T.  McGill,  Jersey  City,  Chancellor  of  New  Jersey ;  Mr.  Charles 
MacDonald,  C.  E.,  New  York  City;  President  Henry  Morton,  Ph.  D.,  Hoboken;  Mr. 
E.  A.  Stevens,  Hoboken;  Mrs.  Edwin  A.  Stevens,  Hoboken;  Edward  B.  Wall,  M.  E., 
Pittsburg,  Pa. ;  Mr.  Alfred  R.  Wolfif,  M.  E.,  New  York  City. 

Faculty. — Henry  Morton,  Ph.  D.,  president;  Alfred  M.  Mayer,  Ph.  D.,  professor  of 
phj'sics;  He  Yolson  Wood,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  professor  of  mechanical  engineering; 
J.  Burkitt  Webb,  C.  E.,  professor  of  mathematics  and  mechanics;  Charles  W.  Mac- 
Cord,  A.  M.,  Sc.  D.,  professor  of  mechanical  drawing;  Albert  K.  Leeds,  Ph.  D., 
professor  of  chemistry ;  Charles  F.  Kneh,  A.  M. ,  professor  of  languages ;  Rev.  Edward 
Wall,  A.  M.,  professor  of  belles  lettres ;  Coleman  Sellers,  E.  D.,  professor  of  engineer- 
ing practice ;  James  E.  Denton,  M.  E.,  i)rofessor  of  experimental  mechanics  and  shop- 
work;  William!].  Geyer,  Ph.  D.,  professor  of  applied  electricity;  Thomas  B.  Stillman, 
Ph.  D.,  professor  of  analytical  chemistry  ;  Adam  Riesenberger,  M.  E.,  assistant  jtrofes- 
sor  of  mechanical  drawing;  William  H.  Bristol,  M.  E.,  assistant  professor  of  mathe- 
matics; D.  S.  Jacobus,  M.  E.,  assistant  professor  of  experimental  mechanics  and  shop- 
work  ;  Samuel  D.  Graydon,  M.  E.,  assistant  professor  of  mechanical  drawing;  Robert 
M.  Anderson,  M.  E.,  assistant  professor  of  applied  mathematics;  George  L.  Manning, 
M.  E.,  assistant  professor  of  physics  aud  chenustry;  Albert  R.  Lawton,  A.  M., 
instructor  in  languages ;  F.  D.  Furman,  M.  E.,  assistant  in  mechanical  drawing ;  Hor- 
ace S.  Yerley,  assistant  in  applied  electricity;  Matthew  Lackland,  instructing 
mechanic  in  workshops. 

As  to  the  objects  aimed  at  in  the  course  of  instruction  provided  in 
the  institute  and  the  results  attained,  it  will  suffice  to  quote  what  was 
said  ou  these  subjects  by  President  Morton  at  the  presentation  of  the 
workshop  to  the  trustees,  aud  to  add  that  time  and  experience  have 
thoroughly  indorsed  all  that  was  there  stated. 

The  passage  referred  to  reads  as  follows : 

Our  object  always  has  been  aud  is  to  graduate,  not  journeymen  mechanics,  but 
mechanical  engineers,  and  the  long  list  of  our  graduates  now  occupying  high  posi- 
tions of  responsibility  in  the  various  machine  shops  of  the  country  bears  abundant 
witness  to  our  success  in  the  past.  For  the  future  we  have  no  idea  of  allowing  our 
workshop  course  in  any  way  to  displace  the  invaluable  instructions  of  the  other 
departments,  but  on  the  contrary  we  intend  that  it  shall  render  them  only  more 
efficient  by  making  closer  their  relations  to  what  every  student  sees  to  be  the  object 
of  bis  course  here,  namely,  the  acquirement  of  the  various  and  extensive  knowl- 
edge— scientific,  mathematical,  and  practical — which  will  enable  him  tu  grapple 
successfully  with  the  vast  and  difficult  problems  daily  presented  to  the  mechanical 
engineer. 

To  master  such  problems  he  must  not  only  be  practically  familiar  with  the  opera- 
tion of  machine  and  other  tools,  the  process  of  molding  aud  forging  metals  and  tlie 
like,  but  he  must  also  be  able  to  understand  at  a  glance  the  ideas  of  others  as 
expressed  in  "mechanical  drawings,'' and  express  his  own  ideas  accurately  in  the 
same  way. 

He  must  also  have  a  complete  mastery  of  all  mathematical  processes  available  for 
calculating  the  action  of  forces,  distribution  of  strains,  transformations  of  energy, 
and  the  like. 


312  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

He  must  likewise  have  a  lari^e  acqnaiutance  with  the  vast  body  of  recorded  expe- 
rience and  logical  deduction  from  the  same,  which  constitutes  the  science  of 
mechanical  engineering. 

He  must  also  have  such  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  laws  of  physics  and  chemistry 
as  will  enable  him  to  employ  the  forces  of  nature  here  indicated  for  his  purposes 
and  avoid  their  inimical  influences. 

Yet,  again,  he  must  have  such  a  knowledge  of  modern  languages  and  of  history, 
literature,  and  the  other  elements  of  social  culture  as  will  fit  him  to  associate  on 
terms  of  equality  with  other  educated  men. 

Lastly,  but  not  least,  he  must  have  such  knowledge  of  the  financial  relations  of 
his  subject,  the  cost  of  labor  and  material,  the  relative  economy  of  various  processes 
and  the  like,  as  will  enable  him  to  choose  judiciously  in  selecting  an  outfit  for  any 
mechanical  establishment  and  estimate  accurately  as  to  its  cost. 

The  woodcuts  accompanying  tliis  article  illustrate  some  of  the 
features  of  the  institute.  One  figure  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  tlie  insti- 
tute buildings  and  surroundings.  The  main  building  faces  toward  the 
south.  Its  basement  is  occupied  by  a  portion  of  the  department  of 
experimental  mechanics  and  shopwork  in  the  various  arrangements  of 
engines  and  machinery  involved  in  the  course  of  experimental  mechan- 
ics. Here  are  found  steam,  hot  air,  and  gas  engines,  pumps,  dyna- 
mometers, injectors,  calorimeters,  condensers,  fan  blowers,  water 
wheels,  oil  testers,  and  numerous  other  pieces  of  apparatus,  or  rather 
machinery,  used  in  the  exercises  of  this  course. 

On  the  first  floor,  the  east  or  right  end  of  the  main  building  is 
occupied  by  the  physical  laboratory,  the  west  end  by  the  library,  and 
the  central  portion  by  the  ofiflces  of  the  president  and  treasurer.  The 
second  floor  has  to  the  east  the  lecture  rooms  and  studies  of  the  pro- 
fessors of  i)hysics  and  chemistry,  and  to  the  west  the  lecture  rooms  of 
the  professors  of  engineering  and  mathematics.  The  third  floor  of  the 
entire  main  building  is  occupied  by  the  department  of  drawing. 

The  wing  to  the  west  (left  side  of  picture)  is  occupied  on  all  its  four 
floors  by  the  department  of  chemistry.  The  corresi)onding  wing  to  the 
east  is  occupied  by  the  electric  department  on  its  lower  floors  and  on 
its  upper  floor  accommodates  the  department  with  one  lecture  room 
and  professor's  study. 

The  central  wing  accommodates  in  part  the  department  of  experi- 
mental mechanics  and  shop  work,  with  shops,  foundry,  lecture  rooms, 
and  studies  for  the  professors  of  this  department. 

There  is  also  between  this  central  wing  and  tbe  east  wing  a  building 
of  two  stories,  the  lower  accommodating  in  part  the  department  of 
applied  electricity  and  the  other  giving  a  lecture  room  and  study  to 
the  department  of  languages.  The  large  buildiug  back  of  the  east 
wing  is  tlie  Stevens  school,  accommodating  over  L'.jO  students,  and  in 
this  the  professor  of  belles-lettres,  who  is  also  its  director,  receives  his 
institute  classes. 

To  the  right  of  the  picture  is  seen  the  Hudson  River  with  New  York 
City  on  its  farther  shore,  while  the  hill  to  the  northeast  of  the  insti- 
tute is  occupied  by  the  former  residence  of  Edwin  A.  Stevens,  the 
founder  of  the  institute.  The  other  views,  with  their  descriptive  titles, 
explain  themselves. 


Chapter  XIII. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  OF  THE 
REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA  LOCATED  AT 
NEW   BRUNSWICK,  N.  J. 


By  Rev.  E.  T.  Corwin,  D.  D. 


The  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Eeformed  Church  in  America 
located  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  since  1810,  was  virtually  l)eguu  by 
the  election  of  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Livingston  as  professor  of  divinity  in 
1784.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Dutch  colonists  had  a  high  regard  for 
religion  and  education,  but  during  the  whole  of  the  colonial  period 
there  was  great  difficulty  in  securing  a  sufficient  number  of  ministers. 
For  more  than  a  century  after  the  first  settlement  almost  all  the  min- 
isters came  from  Holland.  Most  of  these  were  graduates  of  the  great 
universities  in  the  Fatherland  or  other  parts  of  Europe.  In  course  of 
time  a  few  young  men  went  to  Europe  for  education  and  ordination, 
but  these  only  numbered  about  a  dozen  up  to  the  time  of  the  Eevolu 
tion.  One  minister  then  also  served  at  least  three  churches.  The 
necessity  of  an  educational  institution  in  America,  therefore,  became 
more  obvious  with  every  decade.  In  1747  an  association  was  formed, 
called  the  Coetus,  one  of  whose  duties  was  to  examine  and  ordain 
young  men  who  had  obtained  some  sort  of  an  education  by  i)rivate 
study,  but  in  each  case  special  consent  had  to  be  obtained  from  the 
classis  of  Amsterdam.  This  was  not  only  a  burdensome  routine  in 
itself,  but  the  plan  also  did  not  work  satisfactorily.  Only  live  men 
were  ordained  by  this  body  in  six  years.  In  1753,  therefore,  the  Coetus 
assumed  independence  and  changed  itself  into  a  classis  and  exercised 
for  itself  all  ecclesiastical  powers;  but  this  classis  was  able  to  ordain 
only  nine  young  men  in  sixteen  years  (1754-1''70).  But,  in  connection 
with  the  assumption  of  independence  by  the  Coetus,  a  secession  took 
place  from  that  body,  which  called  itself  the  Conferentie,  and  this  party 
sought  to  secure  a  professorship  of  divinity  in  King  s  (now  Columbia) 
College,  which  was  just  about  to  be  chartered.  But  as  this  institution 
was  to  be  under  Episcopal  control,  and  for  other  reasons,  the  church 
repudiated  this  scheme  and  the  Coetus  party  obtained  a  charter  for 
Queen's  College  in  :N^ew  Jersey  in  1766.     This  was  to  l)e  for  the  benefit 

313 


314  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

of  the  Dutch  Churcli  exclusively,  but,  this  plau  soou  appearing  to  be 
too  restricted,  a  new  charter  was  obtaiued  in  1770  of  a  more  liberal 
cLaracter,  and  the  location  of  this  institution  was  finally  fixed  at  Xew 
Brunswick,  Is".  J.  While  it  was  to  be  a  general  collegiate  institution, 
its  chief  design,  according  to  its  charter,  was  to  train  up  a  ministry 
for  the  Dutch  Church,  but  the  Eevolution  delayed  the  development  of 
all  these  plans.  At  its  close  in  1784  the  provisional  synod  then  exist- 
ing, which  had  been  constituted  in  1771  by  a  union  of  the  Coetus  and 
the  Conferentie,  and  which  had  (1771-1781)  ordained  only  thirteen  men, 
ignoring  both  King's  and  Queen's  colleges,  elected  Rev.  Dr.  John  H. 
Livingston  to  be  professor  of  divinity  in  the  church  at  large  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Herman  Meyer  to  be  professor  of  the  Biblical  languages. 

But  the  poverty  of  the  country  after  the  war  prevented  the  securing 
of  endowments.  Repeated  efforts  were  therefore  made  by  Queen's  Col- 
lege to  induce  the  synod  to  unite  their  theological  i)rofessorship  with 
that  institution,  but  a  (piarter  of  a  century  elapsed  before  success 
crowned  their  efforts.  From  1789  until  1810  Dr.  Livingston,  retaining 
his  pastorship  in  the  collegiate  church  of  New  York,  taught  theological 
students  gratuitously.  As  a  matter  of  convenience  to  students,  other 
ministers  also,  from  time  to  time,  were  appointed  professors  in  various 
localities  to  assist  in  teaching,  but  all  students  were  required  finally  to 
be  examined  by  Dr.  Livingston  and  receive  a  testimonial  from  him  to 
entitle  them  to  ask  for  an  examination  for  licensure.  About  90  were 
thus  graduated,  1784-1810. 

The  general  synod  finally  accepted  the  overtures  from  Queen's  College 
to  unite  their  professorship  with  that  institution,  and  in  1807  a  covenant 
was  entered  into  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  trustees  would  com- 
bine the  literary  interests  of  the  college  with  the  promotion  of  an  able 
ministry  for  the  Dutch  Churcli;  that  the  funds  which  the  trustees 
might  raise  in  the  State  of  New  York  should  be  an  endowment  for  the 
synod's  professor  of  theology,  as  well  as  for  the  assistance  of  needy 
students  preparing  for  the  ministry;  that  certain  moneys  raised  by  the 
synod  in  180G  should  be  transferred  to  this  endowment  fund,  known 
down  to  1828  as  the  professorial  fund,  and  which  was  to  be  administered 
by  the  trustees.  The  trustees  also  agreed  always  to  call  as  their  i)ro- 
fessor  of  theology  such  ])rofessor  as  should  be  elected  by  the  general 
synod,  and  that  this  permanent  professorship  should  be  located  at  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J. ;  that  said  professor  should  remove  to  New  Brunswick 
as  soon  as  the  condition  of  the  professorial  fund  warranted  it,  and  that 
a  board  of  superintendents  should  be  appointed  by  the  general  synod 
to  superintend  the  theological  instruction,  to  assist  the  professor  in 
arranging  the  course  of  studies,  to  examine  students,  and  if  their 
examinations  were  satisfactory  to  grant  them  certificates  entitling  them 
to  ask  a  classis  to  examine  them  for  licensure.  The  synod  also  agreed 
to  assist  in  providing  a  suitable  library  and  in  the  erection  of  a  theo- 
logical hall. 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  NEW  BRUNSWICK.      315 

Funds  were  collected  to  sucb  an  amount  by  February,  1810,  as  war- 
ranted the  trustees  in  calling  Dr.  Livingston  to  the  uresideucy  of  the 
college  and  to  be  theological  professor  therein.  In  the  following  Octo- 
ber he  removed  to  New  Brunswick  at  a  great  personal  sacrifice,  and 
began  his  labors  with  a  class  of  five  students.  The  cost  of  the  hall, 
which  was  begun  in  1809,  and  a  financial  crisis  just  at  this  time, 
delayed  the  success  of  the  endowment,  and  the  professor  was  but  par- 
tially and  irregularly  paid.  He  secured,  however,  in  1814,  from  his 
friend,  Rev.  Elias  Van  Bunschoten,  the  gift  of  a  fund,  which  ulti- 
mately amounted  to  about  $20,000,  to  help  needy  students  ])reparing 
for  the  ministry.  Although  belonging  to  the  general  synod,  this  fund 
was  placed  iu  the  hands  of  the  college  trustees,  as  the  synod  was  not 
then  incorporated.  It  is  still  administered  by  the  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege. This  fund  was  the  beginning  of  the  educational  funds  of  the 
church  for  helping  needy  students  having  the  ministry  iu  view.  Many 
other  gifts  have  since  been  received  and  scholarships  founded  for  this 
purpose.  These  are  now  held  either  by  Rutgers  College,  or  the  gen- 
eral synod,  or  the  board  of  education,  which  was  founded  in  1828  and 
incorporated  in  1869,  and  now  amount  to  about  $250,000.  A  plan  of 
the  theological  school  was  adopted  in  1812  relating  to  the  powers  of 
general  synod,  of  the  board  of  superintendents,  the  duties  of  profess- 
ors, of  studeuts,  the  time  and  course  of  studies,  etc.  This  plan  was 
revised  iu  1828,  elaborated  in  reference  to  the  department  of  didactic 
theology  in  1841,  and  entirely  rewritten  in  1888,  adapting  it  to  the 
enlarged  conditions  of  the  institutions. 

The  embarrassment  which  occurred  in  reference  to  the  endowment 
soon  after  Dr.  Livingston's  removal  to  New  Brunswick  was  partly  met 
by  the  promise  of  the  church  of  Albany  in  1814  to  give  8750  per  year 
for  six  years  and  of  the  church  of  New  Brunswick  to  give  $200  per 
year  for  the  same  period.  Collections  were  also  taken  up  in  the 
churches  for  several  years  for  the  same  object.  Upon  the  strength  of 
these  promises  Rev.  Dr.  John  Schureman  was  elected  professor  of 
ecclesiastical  history,  church  government,  and  pastoral  duties  in  1815, 
but  in  three  years  he  was  cut  off  by  death.  In  1819  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Ludlow  was  elected  professor  of  Biblical  literature  and  ecclesiastical 
history,  but  in  four  years  he  resigned  on  account  of  the  still  continuing 
financial  embarrassments. 

From  1816  to  1825  the  college  exercises  were  suspended  for  the  same 
reasons.  There  was  also  considerable  difficulty  between  the  college 
trustees  and  the  general  synod  in  adjusting  the  cost  of  the  hall  and 
the  balance  of  the  professorial  fund.  In  1815,  therefore,  the  synod 
began  to  raise  what  they  called  a  permanent  fund,  and  in  1819  the 
general  synod  was  incorporated.  Meanwhile  Dr.  Livingston,  who  had 
been  receiving  very  little  compensation  for  his  services,  earnestly 
pleaded  for  the  permanent  endowment  of  the  theological  professorships. 
An  elder  now  asserted  that  a  second  professorship  could  be  endowed 


316  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

by  one  hundred  subscriptions  of  $250  each  in  the  churches  of  'New 
Jersey,  New  York  City,  and  Long  Island.  Committees  were  accord- 
ingly appointed,  and  in  1823  they  produced  subscriptions  amounting 
to  $26,075.  On  the  strength  of  this  (although  the  money  was  not  yet 
collected)  Rev.  Dr.  John  De  Witt  was  at  once  elected  as  Dr.  Ludlow's 
successor.  But  the  particular  synod  of  Albany  was  not  to  be  outdone 
by  the  particular  synod  of  New  York.  The  next  year  they  sent  in  u 
subscription  list  of  $26,715  for  a  third  professorshii).  While  these 
moneys  were  in  course  of  collection,  and  to  meet  present  emergencies, 
the  Collegiate  Church,  of  New  York,  promised  $1,700  per  year  for  three 
years,  which  was  also  continued  for  a  fourth  year.  Dr.  Livingston  had 
lived  to  see  the  institution  fairly  endowed,  according  to  the  views  of 
that  day.     He  died  on  January  20,  1825,  79  years  of  age. 

Eev.  Dr.  Philip  Milledoler  soon  succeeded  him,  serving  in  the  chair 
of  didactic  theology  for  sixteen  years,  resigning  in  1841.  Rev.  Dr. 
iSelali  S.  Woodhull  was  also  elected  in  1825  to  the  chair  of  ecclesiastical 
history,  church  government,  and  ]>astoral  theology,  but  he  died  during 
the  following  year,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  8.  Cannon  succeeded  him. 
He  served  the  chuich  in  that  chair  for  twenty  six  years,  1820-1852.  Dr. 
De  Witt  died  after  eight  years  of  service,  in  1831,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Alex- 
ander McClelland  succeeded  him,  occupying  the  chair  of  Biblical  liter- 
ature from  1832  to  1851. 

The  financial  relations  between  the  general  synod  and  the  trustees 
of  Queen's  College  were  finally  adjusted  by  the  transfer  of  the  college 
property  to  the  general  synod  and  the  payment  of  $1,000  by  the  synod 
to  the  trustees.  This  was  in  1825,  The  college  was  now  reopened 
under  the  name  of  Rutgers,  and  a  covenant  was  entered  into  between 
the  general  synod  and  the  trustees,  in  which  the  synod  agreed  to  allow 
the  trustees  such  parts  of  the  hall  (now  known  as  Queens  building)  as 
should  be  necessary  for  the  exercises  of  the  college,  while  the  theolog- 
ical professors  were  to  perform  such  duties  in  the  college  as  the  synod 
should  deem  best  calculated  to  promote  the  mutual  interests  of  both 
institutions. 

In  1830  this  covenant  was  amended,  providing  that  no  theological 
professor  should  hereafter  be  president  of  the  college,  urging  also  the 
necessity  of  perfect  harmony  between  the  two  institutions,  and  engag- 
ing that  the  theological  professors  should  preach  in  the  college  chai)el 
on  Sundays  in  turn.  The  tuition  fees  of  the  professors  were  also  to  be 
paid  partly  out  of  the  educational  funds  of  the  church,  if  necessary,  and 
if  the  state  of  the  funds  permitted.  The  synod  was  also  brought  under 
legal  obligations  to  allow  a  certain  amount  of  room  in  the  hall  for  col- 
lege exercises,  and  the  synod  also  agreed  not  to  sell  or  lease  the  college 
property  without  the  consent  of  the  trustees. 

In  1810  the  covenant  was  further  amended,  the  synod  committing  to 
the  trustees  the  entire  election  of  the  college  professors  ami  the  entire 
management  of  the  funds  and  affairs  of  the  college;  but  the  theological 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  NEW  BRUNSWICK.      317 

professors  Avere  requested  for  the  present  to  coutiune  their  services  in 
the  college,  so  far  as  they  could  without  interfering  with  their  duties 
in  the  seminary.  Tuition  fees  were  still  to  be  allowed  for  beneficiaries 
in  the  college  from  the  educational  funds  of  the  church.  In  1828  the 
balance  of  the  old  professorial  fund  held  by  the  trustees  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  synod. 

Out  of  the  sums  subscribed  for  the  second  and  third  professorships 
in  1823  and  1824,  amounting  to  $53,390,  only  about  $41,000  was  finally 
realized,  and  $7,000  of  this  amount  was  used  for  the  liquidation  of 
debts.  In  1835  only  about  $34,000  had  been  added  to  the  permanent 
fund.  Another  effort  was  now  made  to  increase  the  endowment,  and 
$41,083  was  raised,  but  $7,000  was  again  needed  for  arrearages  and- 
other  debts,  leaving  again  about  $34,000  to  be  added  to  the  permanent 
fund. 

In  1841,  upon  Dr.  Milledoler':,  resignation,  Eev.  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Van 
Vrankeu  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  He  filled  the  chair  of  didactic 
theology  for  twenty  years,  dying  in  1861,  when  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  F.  Berg- 
was  chosen  in  his  place.  He  occupied  this  chair  for  ten  years.  Kev. 
Dr.  William  H.  Campbell  succeeded  Dr.  McClelland  in  the  chair  of 
Biblical  literature  in  1851.  Dr.  Campbell  resigned  in  1803  to  become 
president  of  Rutgers  College.  Rev.  Dr.  John  Ludlow  now  a  second 
time  became  a  professor  in  the  institution,  succeeding  Dr.  Cannon  in 
1852  in  the  chair  of  ecclesiastical  history,  but  in  five  years  he  died. 

Meantime,  in  1854,  a  movement  was  started  at  Dr.  Campbell's  sug- 
gestion to  secure  a  separate  theological  hall  for  the  seminary,  although 
the  synod  still  owned  the  college  building.  This  finally  resulted,  in 
1856,  in  the  erection  of  the  Peter  Hertzog  Theological  Hall  by  Mrs. 
Anna  Hertzog,  of  Philadelphia,  at  an  expense  of  $30,700.  Ten  years 
later  her  will  gave  the  synod  $10,000  to  keep  the  hall  in  good  repair. 
The  plot  upon  which  it  was  erected,  about  6  acres  in  extent,  was  chiefiy 
the  gift  of  Messrs.  ISTeilson,  Bishop,  and  Dayton,  of  New  Brunswick. 

On  account  of  these  changes  the  synod,  in  1864,  reconveyed  the  col- 
lege property  to  the  trustees  for  the  nominal  sum  of  $12,000,  and  the 
union  of  the  two  institutions,  begun  by  the  covenant  of  1807,  was 
finally  dissolved.  The  theological  professors  were  soon  released  from 
all  further  duties  in  the  college,  though  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  they 
have  generally  continued  to  preach  in  the  college  chapel  on  Sundaj's. 

With  the  death  of  Dr.  Ludlow,  in  1857,  Eev.  Dr.  8anuiel  M.  Wood- 
bridge  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  in  the  department  of  ecclesiastical 
history,  and,  after  more  than  forty  years  of  service,  yet  remains  the 
honored  incumbent.  In  1863  Rev.  Dr.  John  De  Witt  (son  of  the  former 
Professor  De  Witt)  succeeded  Dr.  Campbell  in  the  chair  of  Biblical 
literature. 

With  the  erection  of  Hertzog  Hall  the  seminary  started  out  on  a 
new  departure.  As  early  as  1857  the  expediency  of  appointing  a  pro- 
fessor of  rhetoric  and  pastoral  theology  was  considered,  but  it  was 


318  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY, 

thought  this  could  not  be  done  by  detailed  solicitation,  but  must  be 
done  by  some  wealthy  individual.  Special  lecturers  were  engaged  from 
time  to  time.  A  standing  committee  on  the  property,  consisting  of  the 
three  professors  and  three  others,  was  now  appointed,  which  was  also 
made  the  synod's  committee  to  seek  to  increase  the  endowment.  Eev. 
Dr.  JSTicholas  E.  Smith  now  offered  $40,000  as  an  addition  to  the  per- 
manent fund  if  the  church  would  raise  the  same  amount  to  endow  a 
fourth  professorship  of  pastoral  theology  and  sacred  rhetoric.  About 
850,000  was  soon  subscribed  toward  the  enlargement  of  the  i)ermanent 
fund  and  Dr.  Smith  gave  his  bond  for  $40,000,  and  the  synod  of  1805 
elected  Rev.  Dr.  David  D.  Demarest  professor  of  pastoral  theology  and 
sacred  rhetoric,  who  still  honorably  fills  this  office.  Dr.  Smith  paid  the 
interest  on  his  bond  for  a  couple  of  years,  Avhen  financial  embarrass- 
ments compelled  him  to  ask  the  synod  to  release  him  from  the  obliga- 
tion. This  was  done.  But  his  kind  offer  had  secured  from  the  church 
the  $50,000  above  alluded  to,  and  with  $10,000  of  this  amount,  and  the 
$12,000  received  for  the  transfer  of  the  college  property  back  to  the  trus- 
tees, residences  for  the  professors  began  to  be  built  in  the  plot  contain- 
ing Hertzog  Hall.  The  gift  of  Dr.  Smith,  though  it  failed,  started  a 
new  development  in  the  endowment  of  the  institution. 

In  1800  the  faculty  requested  to  be  relieved  of  the  care  of  the  prop- 
erty and  the  raising  of  money,  which  their  position  in  the  standing 
committee  had  required  of  them.  The  synod  at  first  refused,  but  in 
18C8,  upon  renewal  of  their  request,  modified  the  constitution  of  the 
committee  so  that  it  should  consist  of  ten  members  (reduced  in  1800 
to  six),  only  one  of  whom  should  be  a  member  of  the  ftienlty.  They 
were  authorized  to  appoint  a  financial  agent.  They  at  once  resolved 
to  make  an  effort  to  raise  $100,000.  Rev.  Dr.  James  A.  H.  Cornell  was 
appointed  financial  agent,  and  held  the  office  for  four  years— 18G9-1873. 
He  soon  obtained  a  subscription  from  James  Suydam  for  $40,000  to 
endow  the  chair  of  didactic  theology.  In  a  couple  of  years  he  increased 
this  endowment  to  $00,000,  in  view  of  the  fact  of  the  probable  election 
(1872)  of  Rev.  Dr.  Abram  B.  Van  Zandt,  his  old  friend  and  pastor,  to 
this  position  in  place  of  Dr.  Berg,  who  had  died.  Dr.  Van  Zandt  held 
this  i)osition  for  nine  years,  dying  in  1881. 

The  permanent  fund  was  greatly  relieved  by  the  special  endowment 
of  the  chair  of  didactic  theology.  Dr.  Cornell  next  received  nineteen 
subscriptions  of  $2,500  each  ($47,500)  for  the  purchase  of  books  for 
the  library.  This  sum  was  not  to  be  permanently  invested,  but  wisely 
expended  for  books  as  rai)idly  as  practicable.  Accumulating  interest 
on  unexpended  balances  ultimately  made  this  fund  about  $55,000.  He 
next  raised  about  $10,000  from  various  contributors  for  the  permanent 
fund,  and  about  $10,000  for  the  immediate  improvement  of  the  prop- 
erty, especially  Hertzog  Hall.  He  also  further  interested  not  only 
James  Suydam,  but  Gardner  A.  Sage,  in  the  institution.  These  gen- 
tlemen gave  $9,000  each  for  the  purchase  of  a  house  for  the  professor 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  NEW  BRUNSWICK.      319 

of  didactic  tbeology,  which  has  since  1884,  on  account  of  other  arrange- 
ments, been  occupied  by  the  professor  of  oriental  languages.  Mr. 
Suydain  also  built  Snydam  Hall  (1873)  at  a  cost  of  $100,000,  contain- 
ing lecture  rooms,  museum,  chapel,  and  gymnasium,  while  Mr.  Sage 
built  the  Gardner  A.  Sage  Library  at  a  cost  known  oidy  to  himself. 

In  1875  the  books  of  the  old  library  in  Hertzog  Hall  were  removed  to 
this  new  and  spacious  building.  A  committee  was  now  appointed 
to  expend  the  funds  raised  for  the  purchase  of  books.  It  consisted 
of  the  four  members  of  the  faculty — Professors  Woodbridge,  DeWitt, 
Demarest,  and  Van  Zandt — together  with  Drs.  Chambers,  Corwin,  and 
Hartranft.  Upon  Dr.  Hartranft's  removal  to  another  field,  in  1878, 
Dr.  Jacob  Cooper,  of  Rutgers  College,  was  appointed  to  take  his  place. 
This  committee  held  monthly  meetings  for  about  ten  years  (187r>-1885), 
and  expended  the  $55,000  in  works  chiefly  of  a  theological,  philosoph- 
ical, and  historical  character,  but  also  not  a  few  were  purchased  of  a 
general  nature,  and  this  library  became  one  of  the  best  equipped  in  its 
line  in  the  country.  There  is  very  little  lacking  in  the  line  of  eccle- 
siastical history.     It  contains  about  45,000  volumes. 

Mr.  Suydamdied  in  1872  and  left  by  will  $20,000  for  the  maintenance 
of  Suydam  Hall,  $20,000  for  the  general  improvement  and  repair  of  the 
seminary  property,  and  $20,000  for  a  new  professorial  dwelling  for  the 
professor  of  didactic  theology.  This  house  was  not  erected  until  twelve 
years  later,  when  the  money  for  this  object  had  accumulated  to  about 
$32,000.  The  balance,  about  $11,000,  was  ultimately  set  apart  by  the 
synod  for  general  repairs  of  professorial  dwellings. 

Mr.  Sage  gave  largely  every  year  to  meet  the  incidental  expenses  of 
Hertzog  Hall.  In  1880  he  gave  $25,000  as  a  permanent  endowment  of 
this  hall,  $35,000  as  a  fund  for  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  library, 
$20,000  as  a  fund  for  the  purchase  of  books,  and  $5,000  for  the  finish- 
ing of  the  basement  of  the  library.  A  balance  of  this  last  amount,  in 
1892,  with  other  funds,  was  used  for  the  erection  of  a  residence  for  the 
librarian.  He  also  gave  $5,000  for  scholarships.  Mr.  Sage  died  in 
1882  and  left  by  will  $50,000  for  the  endowment  of  a  fifth  professor- 
ship, without  specifying  what  it  should  be.  In  1884  the  general  synod 
divided  the  professorship  of  Biblical  literature  into  two,  assigning 
Mr.  Sage's  special  endowment  to  the  support  of  a  professorship  of 
Old  Testament  languages  and  exegesis,  to  which  Rev.  Dr.  John  G. 
Lansing  was  elected.  In  1881  Rev.  Dr.  William  V.  V.  Mabon  was 
chosen  to  succeed  Dr.  Van  Zandt,  holding  the  otlice  for  eleven  years. 
In  1893  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Preston  Searle  was  chosen  to  this  (ihair.  Upon 
the  resignation  of  Dr.  DeWitt,  in  1892,  Rev.  Dr.  James  F.  Riggs  was 
elected  to  the  chair  of  Hellenistic  Greek  and  New  Testament  exegesis. 

In  1873  Nicholas  T.  Vedder,  of  Utica,  presented  to  the  synod  $10,000 
in  railroad  bonds  for  the  establishment  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  '-The 
present  aspects  of  modern  infidelity,  including  its  cause  and  cure." 
These  lectures  were  delivered  for  about  fourteen  years,  although  after 


320  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

1875  the  railroad  company  failed  to  pay  interest.  The  course  was  dis- 
continued in  1889.  In  1888  Eider  N.  F.  Graves,  of  Syracuse,  provided 
for  a  course  of  lectures  on  missions,  which  have  been  delivered  annu- 
ally by  distingnished  friends  of  the  cause  to  the  present  time. 

This  seminary,  since  its  foundation  in  1784,  has  sent  forth  about  1,UU0 
young  men  into  the  ministry,  of  whom  about  50  have  become  foreign 
missionaries.  Its  real  estate  is  now  worth  about  $300,000;  its  profes- 
sorial and  lectare  funds  about  $300,000;  funds  for  the  care  of  its  prop- 
erty, about  8100,000;  for  the  purchase  of  books,  $20,000;  for  the  sup- 
j)ort  of  the  library  (salary  of  librarian  and  incidentals),  $35,000,  and 
for  the  support  of  Hertzog  Hall,  $25,000,  in  all  more  thau  three-quarters 
of  a  million,  together  with  educational  funds  to  help  those  preparing 
for  the  ministry,  whether  in  grammar  school,  college,  or  seminary,  of 
about  a  quarter  of  a  million. 

The  professors  and  lectors  in  connection  with  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 1781-1898,  are  as  follows: 

Rev.  John  H.  Livingston,  D.  D.,  professor  of  didactic  theology,  1784-1825. 

Rev.  Hermanns  Meyer,  D.  D.,  professor  of  languages,  1784-1791 ;  lector  in  theology, 
1786-1791. 

Rev.  Solomon  Froeligh,  D.  D.,  lector  in  theology,  1792-1797;  professor  of  theology, 
1797-1822. 

Rev.  Theodoric  (Dirck)  Romeyn,  D.  D.,  lector  in  theology,  1792-1797 ;  professor  of 
theology, 1797-1804. 

Rev.  John  Basset,  D.  D.,  teacher  of  Hebrew,  1804-1812. 

Rev.  Jeremiah  Romeyn,  D.  D.,  professor  of  Hebrew,  1804-1810. 

Rev.  John  M.  Van  Harlingen,  D.  D.,  professor  of  Hebrew  and  ecclesiastical  history, 
1812-13. 

Rev.  John  Schureman,  D.  D.,  professor  of  ecclesiastical  history,  church  government, 
and  pastoral  duties,  1815-1818. 

Rev.  John  Ludlow,  D.  D.,  professor  of  Biblical  literature  and  ecclesiastical  historv, 
1819-1823. 

Rev.  John  DeWitt,  D.  D,,  professor  of  Biblical  literature  and  ecclesiastical  history, 
1823-1825;  professor  of  Biblical  literature,  1825-1831. 

Rev.  Philip  Milledoler,  D,  D.,  professor  of  didactic  aud  polemic  theology,  1825-1841. 

Rev.  Selah  S.  Woodhull,  D.  D.,  professor  of  ecclesiastical  history,  church  govern- 
ment, and  pastoral  theology,  1825-26. 

Rev.  .James  S.  Cannon,  D.  D.,  professor  of  ecclesiastical  history,  church  government, 
and  pastoral  theology,  1826-1852. 

Rev.  Alexander  McClelland,  Q.  D.,  professor  of  Biblical  literature,  1832-1851. 

Rev.  Samuel  A.  Van  Vranken,  D.  D.,  professor  of  didactic  and  polemic  theology, 
1841-1861. 

Rev.  William  H.  Campbell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  professor  of  Biblical  literature,  1851-1863. 

Rev.  Samuel  M.  Woodbridge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,'  professor  of  pastoral  theology,  eccle- 
siastical history,  aud  church  government,  1857-1865 ;  professor  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory aud  church  government,  1865. 

Rev.  Joseph  F.  Berg,  D.  D.,  professor  of  didactic  and  polemic  theology,  1861-1871. 

Rev.  John  DeWitt,  D.  D  ,  LL.  D.,  L.  H.  D.,  professor  of  Biblical  literature,  1863  • 
1884;  professor  of  Hellenistic  Greek  and  New  Testament  exegesis,  1884-1892. 

Rev.  David  D.  Demarest,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  professor  of  pastoral  theology  and  sacred 
rhetoric,  1865-98. 

Rev.  Abraham  B.  Van  Zandt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D..  professor  of  didactic  and  polemic  the- 
ology, 1872-1881.    ■ 

'  Present  faculty. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY    AT    NEW    RRUNSWICK.  321 

Rev.  William  V.  V.  Mabou,  D.I).,  LL.  D.,  prolcssor  of  di. lactic  mid  polemic  tlici- 
ology, 1881-1892. 

Rev.  John  G.  Lansing,  D.  D.,'  professor  of  Old  Testament  lan;;;nai;es  and  cxegcsiH, 
1881-98. 

Rev.  James  F.  Riggs,  D.  D.,'  professor  of  Hellenistic  Greek  and  New  Testament 
exegesis,  1892-97. 

Rev.  John  Preston  Searle,  D.  D.,'  professor  of  didactic  and  polemic  theology,  1893. 

TEMPO I'vARY   ASSISTANTS. 

Rev.  Peter  Studcliford,  instructor  in  Hebrew,  1813-14. 

Rev.  James  S.  Cannon,  D.  D.,  instructor  in  ecclesiastical  history,  church  govern- 
ment, and  jiastoral  theology,  1818-19. 

Rev.  John  8.  Mabon,  instructor  in  Hebrew  an<l  (J reek,  1818-19, 

Rev.  Alexander  McClelhind,  D.  D.,  instructor  in  Hebrew,  1831-32. 

Rev.  George  W.  Bethune,  D.  D.,  lecturer  on  pulpit  eloquence,  1857-58. 

Rev.  Prof.  Samuel  M.  Woodbridge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  instructor  in  didactic  aiul  ]iolcniic 
theology,  1871-72, 1881, 1892-93. 

Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  assistant  instructor  in  New  Testaintut 
exegesis,  1883-84. 

Rev.  Edward  T.  Corwin,  D.  D.,  assistant  instructor  in  Hebrew  and  Old  Testament 
exegesis,  1883-84 ;  January-March,  1889 ;  January-February,  1890 ;  September,  1890- 
May,  1891 ;  New  Testament  exegesis,  January-May,  1892. 

'  Present  faculty. 
20687— No.  23 21 


Chapter  XIV. 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 


[The  first  part  of  this  sketch  follows  closely,  in  many  instances  ver- 
batim, the  account  of  Princeton  Seminary  to  be  found  in  the  Princeton 
Book.  A  series  of  sketches  pertaining  to  the  history,  organization, 
and  present  condition  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  By  Officers  and 
Graduates  of  the  College.  Boston:  Houghton,  Osgood  &  Co.  1879. 
This  account  was  written  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  George  T.  Purves,  now  a 
professor  in  the  seminary.  The  full  corporate  title  of  the  seminary 
is  the  ''Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church."] 

Tliis  is  the  oldest  of  Jhe  theoh)gical  seminaries  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  ill  America.  It  was  established  in  response  to  demands  which 
had  through  many  years  been  growing  more  and  more  urgent,  and 
which  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  could  no  longer  remain  unheeded. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  had  always  stood  for  a  high  standard  of  min- 
isterial culture.  This  was  her  inheritance  before  her  transplanting  to 
the  shores  of  the  New  World.  She  brought  with  her  from  the  reformed 
churches  of  Europe  traditions  of  university  education  and  professional 
learning  as  well  as  of  orthodox  faith  and  evangelical  piety.  In  the 
face  of  many  temptations  to  lower  her  standards  which  the  need  of 
men  or  the  excitement  incident  to  great  revivals  ottered,  she  in  the 
main  consistently  refused  to  do  so.  But  the  time  came  when  the  prep- 
aration of  candidates  for  the  ministry  under  the  supervision  of  indi- 
vidual pastors  was  felt  to  be  inadequate. 

In  the  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  difficulties  con- 
nected with  the  subject  of  ministerial  education  were  enhanced  by 
the  almost  inevitable  accompaniments  of  the  si)iritual  prosperity  with 
which  the  church  was  then  blessed.  The  call  for  men  was  increased. 
Four  hundred  congregations  were  utisupplied  with  pastors;  and  their 
call  had  in  some  cases  been  answered  by  men  untit,  so  far  as  intellec- 
tual ti-aiuing  was  concerned,  to  assume  the  duties  of  the  office,  and 
whose  newly  awakened  fervor  rebelled  against  what  seemed  the  cold 
scholasticism  of  a  more  systematic  training  for  the  ministry.  The 
assembly  of  1804,  in  reply  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  written  on  behalf  of 
322 


PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY.  323 

the  presbytery  of  Transylvania,  Ky.,  recommended  that  no  relaxation 
of  the  usual  requirements  be  made.  It  was  believed  that  the  purity 
of  the  church  depended  largely  upon  the  knowledge  as  well  as  the 
piety  of  her  teachers. 

In  providing  better  facilities  for  theological  instruction  the  Presby- 
terian Church  had  been  anticipated  by  the  Congregationalists  of  New 
England,  the  Kelbrnied  Dutch,  and  the  associated  reformed  churches. 
This  made  it  the  more  imperative  that  she  should  have  an  institution 
of  her  own  for  the  training  of  her  own  i)astors.  At  the  opening  of  the 
century  it  seemed  to  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  church  that  the 
time  was  ripe  for  the  establishment  of  sucli  an  institution,  and  they 
began  to  seriously  agitate  the  (luestion.  It  is  not  known  by  what  indi- 
vidual the  matter  was  first  proposed.  It  originated,  however,  among 
the  members  of  the  presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  one  reading  the  records  of  the  time  tliat  it  was 
mainly  due  to  the  wisdom  of  a  few  men  who,  from  the  first  and  as  long 
as  they  lived,  contributed  largely  to  its  success,  and  of  whom  Dr. 
Ashbel  Green,  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  and  Dr.  J.  J.  Janeway  were 
especially  conspicuous.  In  1805  the  first  of  these  had  reported  to  the 
general  asseuibly  an  overture  emphasizing  earnestly  the  alarming  need 
of  more  ministers,  urging  upon  the  congregations  the  adequate  sup- 
port of  pastors  in  order  that  young  men  miglit  not  be  deterred  from 
the  office  by  dread  of  poverty,  and  endeavoring  to  stimulate  the  activ- 
ity and  watchfulness  of  presbyteries  in  selecting  and  assisting  their 
candidates. 

There  is,  indeed,  in  this  overture  no  proposal  of  a  theological  school, 
but  it  is  sufficient  to  show  the  necessities  of  the  church  and  the  interest 
which  its  author  took  in  the  cause  of  ministerial  education.  The  over- 
ture was  adopted  by  the  succeeding  assembly,  and  at  its  October  ses- 
sion of  the  same  year,  1800,  the  presbytery  of  Philadeli)hia  promptly 
acted  on  it  by  sending  to  the  churches  within  its  jurisdiction  a  long  and 
earnest  address  calling  attention  to  its  contents,  which  was  ordered  to 
be  read  from  their  pulpits.  There  was  still,  however,  no  movenient 
looking  directly  to  the  organization  of  a  seminary.  On  the  contrary, 
the  assembly  of  1 800  recommended  to  the  tavorable  considerati<ui.of 
the  presbyteries  a  letter  which  had  been  received  from  President  Smith 
setting  forth  the  advantages  ottered  for  theological  instruction  in  the 
College  of  New  Jersey.  But  the  time  had  come  for  more  definite  action. 
The  influence  of  the  few  men  already  named  was  felt  by  others,  and 
their  ideas  were  not  slow  in  taking  shape.  The  first  known  direct 
mention  of  a  seminary  was  made  by  the  Kev.  Archibald  Alexander  in 
his  sermon  before  the  assembly  of  1808,  in  which  he  said: 

In  my  opiniou  we  shall  not  have  a  regular  and  sufficient  supply  of  well-qualitied 
ministers  of  the  gospel  until  every  presbytery,  or  at  least  every  synod,  shall  have 
under  its  direction  a  seminary  established  for  the  single  purpose  of  educating  youth 
for  the  miniotry. 


324  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

There  was  nothing  done  by  that  assembly,  but  the  words  were  not 
fruitless.  Dr.  Green  says:  "Encouraged  by  this,  I  used  all  uiy  influ- 
ence in  favor  of  the  measure."  Accordingly  we  find  that  at  its  meet- 
ing in  April,  1809,  the  presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Green  being 
moderator — 

Resolved,  That  the  commissioDers  from  this  presbytery  to  the  general  assembly  be 
instructed,  and  they  are  hereby  instructed,  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  induce  the 
assembly  to  turn  their  attention  to  a  theological  school  for  the  education  of  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry  in  our  church,  to  be  established  in  some  central  or  convenient 
place  within  their  bounds. 

The  assembly  met  in  Philadelphia  in  May,  1809,  and  on  the  .3d  of  that 
month  the  committee  on  overtures  reported  the  above  resolution.  A 
committee  consisting  of  eight  ministers  and  three  laymen,  and  of  which 
President  Dwight,  of  Yale  College,  a  delegate  from  the  Congregational 
association,  was  chairman,  was  appointed  to  consider  it.  Four  days 
later  this  committee  reported : 

Three  modes  of  compassing  this  important  object  have  presented  themselves  to 
their  consideration.  The  first  is  to  establish  one  great  school  in  some  convenient 
place  near  the  center  of  the  bounds  of  the  church.  The  second  is  to  establish  two 
schools  in  such  places  as  may  best  accommodate  the  northern  and  southern  divisions 
of  the  church.  The  third  is  to  establish  such  a  school  within  the  bounds  of  each  of 
tlie  synods.  In  tliis  case  your  committee  suggest  the  propriety  of  leaving  it  to  each 
synod  to  direct  the  mode  of  forming  the  school  and  the  place  where  it  shall  be 
established. 

After  suggesting  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each  of  these 
methods,  the  report  concludes : 

Your  committee,  therefore,  submit  the  following  resolutions,  to  wit: 
Itenolred,  that  the  above  plans  be  submitted  to  all  the  presbyteries  within  the 
bounds  of  the  general  assembly  for  their  consideration,  and  that  they  be  careful  to 
send  up  to  the  next  assembly,  at  their  sessions  in  May,  1810,  their  opinions  on  the 
subject. 

The  report  was  ado})ted.  Each  of  its  plans  had  ardent  advocates. 
The  unifying  tendency  which  a  central  institution  would  exert  seemed 
to  some  hardly  a  sufficient  compensation  for  the  inconvenience  which 
its  distance  from  much  of  tbe  already  widelj^  extended  church  would 
necessarily  occasion ;  while  others  dreaded  the  effects  of  a  too  great 
centralization  of  intiuence  which  such  an  institution  might  ])()s.sibly 
produce.  There  was  also  a  fear  with  legard  to  the  single  school  that 
it  would  be  obligatory  on  all  tlie  presbyteries  to  send  ail  their  candi- 
dates to  it,  however  inconvenient  or  expensive  it  migbt  be;  and  still 
further,  lest  its  professors,  if  they  were  not  formally  empowered  to 
license  candidates  to  preach  the  gospel,  might  be  clothed  with  powers 
out  of  which  such  an  abuse  would  naturally  grow. 

In  the  presbytery  of  Philadelphia  at  its  autumn  meeting,  1809,  a 
committee  of  seven,  of  wlii(  h  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  was  chairman  and  the 
Kev.  Archibald  Alexander  a  member,  was  ai)pointed  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  above  recomniendation  of  the  assembly.  This  committee 
having  re[)oried  in  tlie  spring  of  1810  in  tavur  of -'one  great  school,"' 


PRINCETON    THEOr.OGTCAT.    SEMINARY.  325 

Dr.  Green  and  tlie  liev.  Mr.  Irwin  were  appointed  to  prepare  a  re[)ort 
of  a  plan  and  particulars  of  such  proposed  institution  and  to  present 
the  same  to  the  presbytery  before  the  end  of  the  present  session. 
Their  report  was,  however,  deferred  until,  in  October,  it  was  fonnd  to 
have  been  rendered  unnecessary  by  tlie  action  which  the  assembly  had 
taken  in  the  meantime.  That  action  was  as  follows:  The  committee 
appointed  to  examine  the  rejdies  sent  in  from  the  presbyteries  on  the 
subject  of  theological  schools  reported  ten  presbyteries  in  favor  of  one 
great  school,  one  in  favor  of  two  schools,  ten  in  favor  of  synodical 
schools,  while  six  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  establish  any  school  at  all, 
and  the  remaining  i)resl)3'teries  had  returned  no  answer.  Tlie  commit- 
tee was  forthwith  enlarged  and  instructed  to  "consider  the  snbject  of 
theological  schools  and  report  to  the  assembly  whether  in  their  opinion 
anything,  and  if  anything  what,  is  proper  further  to  be  done."  Nine 
days  later.  May  30,  1810,  their  report  was  read  to  the  assembly  and 
after  amendment  was  approved.     It  is  given  here  in  full: 

1.  It  is  evident  that  uot  ouly  a  majority  of  the  presbyteries  wbicli  have  reported 
OH  the  subject,  but  also  a  majority  of  all  the  presbyteries  under  the  care  of  this 
assembly,  have  expressed  a  decided  opinion  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  theo- 
logical school  or  schools  in  our  church. 

2.  It  appears  to  the  committee  that  although,  according  to  the  statement  already 
reported  to  the  assembly,  there  is  an  e(]nal  number  of  presbyteries  in  favor  of  the 
first  plan,  which  contemplates  a  single  school  for  the  whole  church,  and  in  favor  of 
the  third  plan,  which  contemplates  the  erection  of  a  school  in  each  synod,  yet,  as 
several  of  the  objections  made  to  the  first  plan  are  founded  entirely  on  misconcep- 
tion, and  will  be  completely  obviated  by  developing  the  details  of  that  plan,  it  seems 
fairly  to  follow  that  there  is  a  greater  amount  of  presbyterial  sutfrage  in  favor  of  a 
single  school  than  of  any  other  plau. 

3.  Under  these  circumstances  the  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  as  much  light 
has  been  obtained  from  the  reports  of  presbyteries  on  this  snbject  as  would  be  likely 
to  result  from  a  renewal  of  the  reference,  that  no  advantage  Avill  proliably  arise 
from  further  delay  in  this  important  concern,  but,  on  the  contrary,  much  serious 
inconvenience  and  evil;  that  the  present  assembly  is  bound  to  carry  into  execution 
some  one  of  the  plans  proi)osed,  and  that  the  first  plan,  appearing  to  have  on  the 
whole  the  greatest  share  of  public  sentiment  in  its  favor,  ought,  of  course,  to  l>e 
adopted. 

4.  Your  committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  present  general  assembly 
declare  its  approbation  and  adoption  of  this  plan,  and  immediately  commence  a 
course  of  measures  for  carrying  it  into  execution  as  promptly  and  as  extensively' as 
possible,  and  for  tliis  purpose  they  reconunend  to  the  general  assembly  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolutions: 

1.  L'lsolved,  That  the  state  of  our  churches,  the  loud  and  aflecting  calls  of  desti- 
tute settlements,  and  the  laudable  exertions  of  various  Christian  denominations 
around  us,  all  demand  that  the  collected  wisdoui,  piety,  and  zeal  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  be,  without  delay,  calle<l  into  action  for  furnishing  the  church  with  a  large 
supply  of  able  and  faithful  ministers. 

2.  That  the  general  assembly  will,  in  the  nauie  of  the  great  head  of  the  church, 
immediately  attempt  to  establish  a  seminary  for  securing  for  candidates  for  the 
ministry  more  extensive  and  efiicieiit  theological  instruction  than  they  have  hitherto 
enjoyed.     The  local  situation  of  this  semiuary  is  hereafter  to  be  determined. 

3.  That  in  this  seminary,  when  completely  organized,  there  shall  be  at  least  three 
professors,  who  shall  be  elected  by,  and  hold  their  otiices  during  the  pleasure  of,  the 


326  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEAV    JERSEY. 

general  assembly,  and  who  shall  give  a  regular  course  uf  instruction  in  divinity, 
Oriental  and  Biblical  literature,  and  in  ecclesiastical  history  and  church  govern- 
ment, and  on  such  other  subjects  as  may  be  deemed  necessary.  It  being,  however, 
understood  that  until  sufficient  funds  can  be  obtained  for  the  comi>lete  organization 
and  support  of  the  proposed  seminary  a  smaller  number  of  jtrofessors  than  three 
may  be  appointed  to  commence  the  system  of  instruction. 

4.  That  exertion  be  made  to  jirovide  such  an  amount  of  funds  for  this  seminary  as 
will  enable  its  conductors  to  afford  gratuitous  instruction  and,  when  it  is  necessary, 
gratuitous  support  to  all  such  students  as  may  not  themselves  possess  adequate 
pecuniary  means. 

5.  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  Green,  Woodhull,  Romeyn,  and  Miller,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Archibald  Alexander,  James  Richards,  and  Amzi  Armstrong  be  a  committee  to 
digest  and  prepare  a  plan  of  a  theological  seminary,  embracing  in  detail  the  funda- 
mental jirinciples  of  the  institution,  together  with  regulations  for  guiding  the  con- 
duct of  the  instructors  and  the  students,  and  prescribing  the  best  mode  of  visiting, 
of  controlling,  and  supporting  the  whole  system.  This  plan  is  to  be  reported  to  the 
next  general  assembly. 

[The  sixth  resolution  appoints  agents  in  the  various  synods  to  solicit  donations 
for  the  establishment  and  support  of  the  proposed  seminary.] 

7.  That  as  filling  the  church  with  a  learned  and  able  ministry  without  a  corre- 
sponding portion  of  real  piety  would  be  a  curse  to  the  world  and  an  offense  to  God 
and  his  jieople,  so  the  general  assembly  think  it  their  duty  to  state  tliat  in  estab- 
lishing a  seminary  for  training  tip  ministers  it  is  their  earnest  desire  to  guard  as  far 
as  possible  against  so  great  an  evil;  and  they  do  hereby  solemnly  promise  and 
pledge  themselves  to  the  churches  under  their  care  that  in  forming  and  carrying 
into  execution  the  plan  of  the  proposed  seminary  it  will  be  their  endeavor  to  make 
it,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  a  nursery  of  vital  piety  as  well  as  of  sound  theologi- 
cal learning,  and  to  train  up  persons  for  the  ministry  who  shall  be  lovers  as  well  as 
defenders  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  friends  of  revivals  of  religion,  and  a  blessing 
to  the  church  of  God. 

8.  That,  as  tlie  constitution  of  our  church  guarantees  to  every  presbytery  the 
right  of  judging  of  its  own  candidates  for  licensure  and  ordination,  so  the  assembly 
think  it  proper  to  state  most  explicitly  that  every  presbytery  and  synod  will,  of 
course,  be  left  at  full  liberty  to  countenance  the  proposed  plan  or  not,  at  pleasure, 
and  to  send  their  students  to  the  projected  seminary  or  keep  them  within  their  own 
Ixmnds,  as  they  think  most  conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  church. 

9.  That  the  professor  in  the  seminary  shall  not  in  any  case  be  considered  as  hav- 
ing a  right  to  license  candidates  to  preach  the  gospel;  but  that  all  such  candidates 
shall  be  remitted  to  their  respective  presbyteries,  to  be  examined  and  licensed  as 
heretofore. 

It  was  also  recommended  that  Dr.  Miller  and  the  Rev.  James  llieh- 
ards  be  appointed  to  jjrepare  the  draft  of  a  pastoral  letter  from  the 
assembly  to  the  churches,  calling  their  attention  to  the  suggestion  of  a 
theological  school,  and  earnestly  soliciting  their  patronage  and  support 
in  the  execution  of  the  plan  now  proi)Osed.     This  they  did  the  same  day. 

The  committee  on  the  jjlau  of  the  semiuary,  which  was  appointed  by 
the  above  resolution,  met  in  New  York  at  the  call  of  the  chairman  soou 
after  the  session  of  the  assembly,  and  after  some  important  delibera- 
tions adjourned,  to  meet  again  at  Princeton  on  the  day  of  the  college 
commencement  of  that  year,  1810.  At  that  session  of  the  committee 
Dr.  Green  submitted  a  plan,  which  he  had  in  the  meantime  drawn  up. 
This  was  adopted  by  the  committee  and  ordered  to  be  printed,  and 
copies  were  distributed  to  the  members  of  the  next  assembly.     When 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  327 

that  body  met  iii  Pliiladelpliia  in  May,  ISll,  its  attention  was  called  to 
an  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  stating  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  tlieir  board  t()  confer 
with  a  committee  of  the  assembly  on  the  establishment  of  a  theological 
school.  In  response  to  this  a  committee  of  five,  with  Dr.  Alexander  as 
chairman,  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  thus  suggested.  The  college 
had  a  professor  of  theology,  and  in  1804  a  house  belonging  to  the  col- 
lege had  been  fitted  up  for  the  accommodation  of  theological  students 
and  was  known  as  Divinity  Hall.  On  May  22  the  committee  above 
mentioned  reported  that  it  was  expedient  to  appoint  another  committee 

with  full  power  to  meet  a  committee  of  the  trustees  [of  the  college]  invested  wilh 
similar  powers  to  frame  the  ]»lan  of  a  constitution  for  the  theological  semiuary, 
containing  the  fundamental  luinciples  of  a  union  with  tlie  trustees  of  tliat  college 
and  the  seminary  already  established  hy  them,  which  shall  never  he  changed  or 
altered  without  the  mutual  consent  of  both  parties,  provided  it  siiould  be  deemed 
proper  to  locate  the  assembly's  seminary  at  the  same  place  as  that  of  the  college. 

The  action  thus  recommended  was  taken,  and  a  further  committee 
was  appointed  to  consider  proi)osals  looking  to  the  establishment  of 
the  seminary  in  any  other  place.  The  relation  of  the  college  to  the 
church,  and  the  fact  that  instruction  in  theology  had  been  offered  as  a 
part  of  its  curriculum,  suggested  its  affiliation  with  the  proposed  semi- 
nary. It  was,  however,  not  the  will  of  the  assembly  to  decide  the 
matter  hastily.  It  was  at  that  time  only  so  far  settled  that  the  rivers 
Raritau  and  Potomac  should  form  the  limits  between  which  the  school 
was  to  be  established. 

At  the  same  assembly  Dr.  Green's  committee  reported  a  plan  for 
the  seminary,  which  was  adopted.     Its  main  features  are  as  follows: 

Article  I.  The  general  assembly,  as  the  patron  of  the  seminary  and  tlie  I'ountain 
of  its  powers,  shall  sanction  its  laws,  direct  its  instructions,  and  appoint  its  prin- 
cipal officers.  The  semiuary  is  to  be  governed  by  a  board  of  directors  chosen  by 
the  assembly.  The  assembly  has  also  the  duty  of  electing  the  professors.  Article 
II  provides  for  the  regulation  of  the  board  of  directors.  Their  duties  are  to  enact 
rules  for  the  regulation  of  the  seminary,  to  oversee  the  instruction  given,  to  inaugu- 
rate professors  and  to  guard  the  purity  of  their  teaching,  and  to  superintend  the 
interests  of  the  students.  By  Article  III  the  professors  are  retjuired  to  subscribe  to 
the  church  standards  according  to  a  prescribed  and  strictly  worded  formula;  to 
report  regularly  to  the  directors ;  and,  as  a  faculty,  to  regulate  the  studies  and  admin- 
ister the  discipline  of  the  institution.  Article  IV  prescribes  in  general  the  course 
of  study  and  fixes  tlie  course  at  three  years.  Article  V  relates  to  the  culture  of 
"devotion  and  improvement  in  practical  piety"  among  the  students.  Article  VI 
prescribes  the  conditions  of  admission  for  students  and  the  rules  for  their  govern- 
ment. Articles  VII  and  \lll,  relating  to  the  library  and  to  the  management  of  the 
funds  of  the  institution,  were  adopted  by  later  assemblies.  The  essential  feature 
of  the  entire  plan  was  the  coiitrorof  the  assembly  over  the  newly  established 
institution. 

At  the  same  time,  the  agents  appointed  in  the  preceding  year  to 
obtain  subscriptions  to  the  seminary  reiuu'ted  the  raising  of  some 
$U,000,  in  the  main  from  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Tiiis  amcmut, 
though  small,  was  deemed  a  sufficient  warrant  to  proceed. 


328  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATIOJS    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  assembl}'  which  met  iu  Philadelphia  in  May,  1812,  decided  upon 
Princeton  as  tlie  location  of  the  seminary,  leaving  the  question  of  the 
permanency  of  this  site  to  be  later  determined.  The  i^resence  of  the 
college  there  was  doubtless  one  of  the  most  intiuential  determining- 
factors  iu  this  decision.  The  committee  on  conference  with  the  trustees 
of  the  college  reported  the  following  "plan  of  agreement,"  which  was 
accepted : 

1.  The  semiuaiy  to  he  located  at  Princeton,  and  in  siicli  connection  with  the  college 
as  is  implied  in  the  following  articles: 

2.  The  trustees  engage  not  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  assembly  and  their 
directors  in  carrying  out  the  plan  of  the  seminary  adopted  last  pear. 

3.  The  trustees  permit  the  assembly  to  erect  buildings  necessary  for  the  seminary 
on  the  college  grounds. 

4.  The  trustees  engage  to  grant  acconmiodations  to  the  assembly  in  their  present 
buildings  when  desirable. 

0.  The  trustees  engage  to  receive  such  students  as  are  sent  by  the  assembly  and  to 
endeavor  to  reduce  the  college  expenses. 

6.  The  trustees  undertake  to  receive  moneys  for  investment,  subject  to  the  assem- 
bly's order. 

7.  The  trustees  grant  to  the  seminary  the  use  of  the  college  library,  subject  to 
certain  rules. 

8.  The  trustees  agree  to  help  the  assembly  to  establish  a  pre2)aratory  scliool. 

9.  Tiie  assembly  is  at  liberty  to  remove  at  any  time  the  seminary  elsewhere,  and 
the  trustees  promise  to  establish  no  professorship  of  theology  in  the  college  while 
the  semiiiary  shall  remain  at  Princeton. 

10.  The  trustees  engage  to  use  certain  moneys  in  their  hands  chiefly  according  to 
the  recommendation  of  the  assembly. 

The  above  will  indicate  the  close  relation  established  between  the 
college  and  the  seminary  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  hitter's  exist- 
ence, yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  never  was  and  is  not  now 
any  organic  connectiou  between  them, 

On  ]\Iay  30, 1812,  the  following  were  elected  the  first  directors  of  the 
seminary:  The  Kev.  Drs.  Ashbel  Green,  Samuel  Miller,  J.  B.  liomeyn, 
Archibald  Alexander,  Philip  Milledoler,  Andrew  Flinn,  Samuel  Blatch- 
ford,  James  P.  Wilson,  John  McKnight,  James  Inglis,  Joseph  Clark, 
Eliphalet  Xott;  Eev.  Messrs.  James  llichards,  William  Neill,  John 
McDowell,  Bobert  Cathcart,  Francis  Herron,  Conrad  Speece,  Dirck  0. 
Lansing,  Asa  Hillyer,  Bobert  Finley,  and  Elders  William  Haslett, 
Bobert  Balstou,  Henry  Butgers,  John  ^eilson,  Samuel  Bayard,  Zecha- 
riah  Lewis,  J.  B.  B.  Bodgers,  Dlvie  Bethune,  and  John  Van  Cleve. 

On  the  2d  of  June  the  Bev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  of  Philadel- 
phia, was  elected  professor  of  didactic  and  j)olemic  theology.  After 
some  hesitation  he  accepted,  and  moved  to  Princeton  in  the  following 
July.  The  board  of  directors  held  their  first  meeting  in  Princeton 
June  30,  1812,  and  on  the  12th  of  August  the  seminary  was  formally 
opened  by  the  inauguration  of  Dr.  Alexander  and  the  matriculation  of 
three  students.  Thus  Princeton  Seminary  was  started  on  its  career, 
with  no  grounds  or  buildings  and  with  one  professor  and  three  students. 
Q'he  classes  were  at  first  held  in  Dr.  Alexander's  house. 


PKINCETON    THEOLOGICAL    SEI^^^•AIiY.  329 

Tlie  g-enenil  assembly  of  181;]  docided  to  inake  rrinceton  the  periiui- 
neiit  site  of  tlic  seminary,  and  tlie  same  year  tlie  faculty  was  enlarged 
by  the  addition  of  the  Eev.  br.  Samuel  ^Miller,  of  Xew  York  City,  who 
was  elected  to  the  chair  of  ecclesiastical  history  aiul  church  govein- 
ment.  He  was  inaugurated  September  21).  Thenumber  of  the  students 
increased  rapidly,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  hold  the  lectures  and 
recitations  in  the  college  buiklings.  The  first  building  was  erected  on 
land  obtained  from  Mr.  Richard  Stockton,  the  corner  stone  being  laid 
September  26,  1815,  and  the  building,  although  only  partially  finislied, 
was  occupied  in  the  fall  of  1817.  For  a  time  the  students  had  boarded 
aud  lodged  in  the  college  buildings.  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller 
continued  to  divide  the  course  of  instruction  between  them  until  1820, 
when  the  professors  were  authorized  to  employ  tor  a  year  an  assistant 
instructor  in  the  oriental  languages  of  Scripture.  Thej'  appointed 
Mr.  Charles  Hodge,  a  licentiate  of  the  presbytery  of  I'hiladelphia.  In 
1822  he  was  elected  professor  of  oriental  and  biblical  literature. 

On  the  loth  of  November,  18l'2,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Xew 
Jersey  passed  an  act  incorporating  the  "Trustees  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  with  full  control  over  the 
material  interests  of  the  seminary.  The  trustees  are  the  cori)orate 
body  of  the  institution.  The  incorporators  were :  Samuel  Bayard,  esq., 
John  Beatty,  esq..  Rev.  Isaac  V.  Brown,  1).  D.,  Rev.  David  Comfort, 
D.  D.,  John  Condit,  esq.,  Ebene/er  Elmer,  esq.,  Hon.  Charles  Ewing, 
Hon.  Gabriel  H.  Ford,  Rev.  Ashbel  Green,  D.  D.,  Alexander  Henry, 
esq.,  Rev.  Samuel  B.  How,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  J.  Janeway,  D.  D.,  Hon. 
Andrew  Kirkpatrick,  Rev.  Alexander  McClelland,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John 
McDowell,  D.  D.,  Robert  McXeeley,  esc]..  Rev.  James  Richards,  1).  1)., 
Hon.  Saumel  L.  Southard,  Benjamin  Stropg,  esq.,  John  A'an  Cleve, 
M.  D.,  and  Rev.  George  S.  Woodhull. 

The  original  charter  limited  the  number  of  trustees  to  twenty-one, 
twelve  of  whom  should  be  laymen  and  citizens  of  Xew  Jersey.  In  187G 
the  charter  was  amended  so  as  to  permit  the  election  of  six  additional 
trustees,  and  in  1877  this  limit  was  extended  to  twelve  additional 
trustees.  In  the  original  charter  the  seminary  was  permitted  to  hold 
property  yielding  no  more  than  the  ;.nnual  income  of  $10,000.  In  18G6 
this  was  extended  to  $50,000;  and  in  1881)  the  trustees  were  empowered 
to  determine  the  amount  of  iiroperty  which  the  institution  might  hold, 
filing  such  a  resolution  with  the  secretary  of  State.  With  the  incor- 
poration of  the  board  of  trustees  the  seminary  was  constituted  as  at 
present. 

In  1835  the  Rev.  John  Breckinridge  was  elected  to  the  professorship 
of  pastoral  theology.  He  was  at  the  same  time  expected  to  act  as  an 
agent  of  the  seminary  in  the  collection  of  funds  for  its  further  endow- 
ment. By  the  same  assembly  (1835)  Joseph  Addison  Alexander  was 
elected  associate  professor  of  oriental  aud  biblical  literature,  after 
having  been  employed  for  two  years  as  instructor  in   that  branch. 


330  HISTORY    OF   EDUCATION    IX    NEW    JERSEY. 

Dr.  Ik-eckinridge  Avas  inaugurated  May  5,  1S3G,  but  resigned  after  two 
years  to  become  the  agent  of  the  board  of  foreign  missions.  Mr. 
Alexander  refused  for  some  time  to  accept  tbe  position  to  wliicli  he 
had  been  elected,  although  he  continued  to  iierform  its  duties.  He 
finally  accepted,  and  was  inaugurated  September  24,  1838.  The  dis- 
ruption of  the  church  in  1837  necessitated  a  lawsuit  to  determine  to 
which  branch  the  seminary  should  belong.  The  courts  decided  in 
favor  of  what  was  known  as  the  "old  school"  assembly.  One  effect  of 
the  division  was  the  falling  off  in  the  number  of  students,  but  in  a  few 
years  these  were  about  as  numerous  as  before  the  rupture. 

In  1840  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  was  made  professor  of  exegetical  and 
didactic  theology,  and  Dr.  J.  Addison  Alexander  professor  of  oriental 
and  biblical  literature.  In  18413  the  examinations,  which  had  been  held 
semiannually  up  to  this  time,  were  made  annual.  And  hero  it  may  be 
stated  that  originally  there  were  a  summer  and  a  winter  session  of  the 
seminary,  the  former  lasting  from  July  to  September  and  the  latter 
from  December  to  May,  with  two  vacations  of  six  weeks  each.  It  was 
apparently  in  1840  that  the  change  was  made  to  the  single  session, 
interrupted  by  a  Christmas  recess  and  the  long  vacation,  as  at  present. 

The  directors  received  a  communication  from  Dr.  Miller  on  May  17, 
1847,  stating  that  failing  health  rendered  it  necessary  lor  him  to  resign. 
The  assembly  of  1849  accepted  his  resignation  and  appointed  him 
emeritus  professor.  His  chair  of  ecclesiastical  history  and  church  gov- 
ernment was  filled  by  the  election  of  the  llev.  James  Waddell  Alexan- 
der, of  l!few  York  City,  who  was  inaugurated  November  20,  1849.  Dr. 
Miller  remained  in  Princeton  until  his  death,  which  occurred  January 
7,  1850.  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  occupied  his  chair  during  only  a  ])art  of 
two  years,  resigning  in  1851  to  return  to  a  i^ew  York  pastorate.  This 
new  vacancy  was  supplied  by  the  election  of  Prof.  J.  A.  Alexander  to 
the  chair  of  biblical  and  ecclesiastical  history  and  of  Dr.  William 
Henry  Green  to  that  of  oriental  and  biblical  literature.  Dr.  Creeu 
had  been  instructor  in  Hebrew  from  1840  to  1849.  He  was  inaugurated 
September  30,  1851.  The  seminary  was  soon  called  to  suffer  the  loss  of 
its  senior  professor.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  who,  after  having  been 
identified  with  the  institution  from  its  inception  and  during  the  thirty- 
nine  years  of  its  existence,  died  October  22,  1851.  In  consequence  of 
this  the  next  assembly  transferred  the  department  of  polemic  theology  to 
that  of  exegetical  and  didactic  theology,  filled  by  Dr.  Hodge,  and  elected 
the  Ivev.  Dr.  E.  P.  Humphrey  professor  of  pastoral  theology,  church 
government,  and  delivery  of  sermons.  Dr.  Humphrey  declining,  the 
position  was  offered  in  the  following  year  to  the  I\ev.  Dr.  Henry  A.  Board- 
man,  of  Philadelphia.  He  also  declined,  and  the  duties  of  the  depart- 
ment Avere  performed  by  the  other  professors,  with  the  assistance  of 
special  lecturers  and  instructors.  This  continued  until  1854,  when  the 
Eev.  Alexander  Taggart  McGill  was  elected  to  the  vacant  chaii-  and 
signified  his  acceptance.  He  was  inagurated  September  12,  1854.  In 
1859  Dr.  McGill  was  assigned  to  the  department  of  church  history  and 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  331 

practical  theology,  Dr.  (ireen  to  that  of  oriental  and  Old  Testament 
literature,  and  Dr.  J.  Addison  Alexander  to  that  of  Hellenistic  and 
New  Testament  literature.  Dr.  Alexander  died  January  28,  1800,  his 
death  causing  a  further  shifting  of  the  departments  in  the  seminary. 
Dr.  McGill  was  given  the  chair  of  ecclesiastical  history  and  (;hurch 
government,  and  the  llev.  Caspar  Wistar  llodge  was  elected  to  the 
chair  of  New  Testament  literature  and  biblical  Greek,  and  the  Kev. 
Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans,  to  the  chair  of  pastoral  theology 
and  sacred  rhetoric.  Dr.  Palmer  declining,  tlie  assembly  of  18(31 
finally  transferred  Dr.  McGill  to  the  chair  of  ecclesiastit-al,  homiletic, 
and  j)astoral  theology,  and  elected  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Glement  Moft'at 
to  the  Helena  professorship  of  church  history,  which  had  been  endowed 
that  year  by  John  C.  Green,  esq.,  of  New  York.  In  18(!l>  the  semi- 
centennial anniversary  of  the  seminary  vius  observed  with  appropriate 
ceremonies. 

In  1870  the  first  general  assembly  after  the  reunion  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  met  in  Philadelphia.  At  this 
time  certain  alterations  were  made  in  the  relation  of  the  various  semi- 
naries to  the  general  assembly,  with  a  view  of  reducing  these  rela- 
tions to  a  common  i)attern.  The  powers  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
Princeton  Seminary  were  enlarged,  in  that  they  were  authorized  to 
"elect,  suspend,  and  displace  the  jjrofessors,  subject  in  all  cases  to  the 
veto  of  the  assembly,"  an<l  also,  under  the  same  condition,  to  'Mix  the 
salaries  of  the  professors  and  fill  their  own  vacancies."  Tlie  directors 
began  the  exercise  of  their  new  powers  in  the  the  same  year  by  found- 
ing the  chair  of  Christian  ethics  and  apologetics.  It  originated  in  the 
desire  of  Stephen  Colwell,  esq.,  of  Philadeli)hia,  to  establish  a  lecture- 
ship on  Christian  charity  in  its  social  rehitions,  with  the  hope  that  in 
time  this  would  beconie  a  professorship.  Mr.  Colwell,  however,  died 
before  his  plans  could  be  matured,  but  his  family  carried  out  his 
wishes;  and  thus,  with  other  subscriptions,  the  chair  was  endowed  and 
named  the  xVrchibald  Alexander  professorship  of  Christian  ethics  and 
apologetics.  The  directors  elected  the  Kev.  Charles  Augustus  Aiken, 
then  president  of  Union  College,  to  the  new  chair.  He  was  inaugurated 
September  'J7, 1871.  In  the  fall  of  1877  an  important  stei)  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  seminary  was  taken  in  the  i)rovision  ujade  for  the  support 
of  a  special  librarian,  and  the  Rev.  William  Henry  Roberts  wiis  elected 
librarian.  More  details  c(mcerning  the  library  will  be  given  later  on. 
In  1878  an  addition  was  made  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  faculty  by 
the  foundation  of  an  instructorship  in  elocution,  and  Mr.  Henry  Wilson 
Smith  was  called  to  be  instructor  in  the  new  department. 

In  the  spring  of  1877,  in  coini)liance  with  the  request  of  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge  for  some  assistance,  and  in  execution  of  a  pui])ose  that  had 
been  entertained  for  some  years,  the  directors  elected  the  Rev.  Archi- 
bald Alexander  Hodge,  I).  D.,  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary, 
to  be  associated  with  his  father.  He  accei)ted,  and  was  inaugurated 
November  8,  1877.     But  this  association  lasted  only  one  year,  for  Dr. 


332  HISTORY    OP    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Charles  Hodge  died  June  19,  1878.  He  had  been  connected  with  the 
seminary  continuously  since  his  entering  it  as  a  student  in  181(1,  with 
the  exception  of  one  year.  In  1872  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  con- 
nection with  the  seminary  as  a  professor  had  been  celebrated  with  great 
enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  an  assembled  multitude  of  alumni  and  friends. 
His  death  left  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge  as  the  sole  professor  of  the  chair  that 
since  1879  has  been  known  as  the  Charles  Hodge  professorship  of 
didactic  and  polemic  theology. 

In  1880  the  Stuart  professorship  of  the  relations  of  philosophy  and 
science  to  the  Christian  religion  was  established,  and  the  Rev.  Francis 
Landey  Pattou,  D.  D.,  of  McCormick  Seminary  was  called  to  be  its 
first  incumbent.  His  election  by  the  directors  was  approved  by  the 
general  assembly  and  he  w^as  inaugurated  October  27,  1881.  In  1882 
the  Rev.  James  Frederic  McCurdy,  who  had  been  L.  P.  Stone  tutor 
of  Hebrew  and  assistant  librarian  from  1873  to  1877,  and  J.  C.  Green, 
instructor  in  Hebrew  and  other  oriental  languages  since  that  (kite, 
resigned  after  nine  years  of  faithful  service.  In  1883  Dr.  McGill 
resigned  his  chair  of  ecclesiastical,  homiletic,  and  pastoral  theology  on 
account  of  the  infirmities  of  age  and  was  made  emeritus  professor  with 
a  competent  support  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  given  for  this  special 
purpose  by  generous  frieiuls  of  the  seminary.  The  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Miller  Paxton,  of  Kew  York  City,  was  elected  his  successor  the  same 
year,  and  his  election  having  been  approved  by  the  assembly,  he  was 
inaugurated  May  13,  1884.  The  instructorship  in  Hebrew  left  vacant 
by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  McCurdy  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of 
the  Rev.  John  D.  Davis,  who  gave  instruction  in  this  department  dur- 
ing the  year  1883-84;  he  then  spent  two  years  of  study  in  Germany, 
taking  up  again  his  work  as  the  J.  C.  Green  instructor  in  Hebrew  in 
the  fall  of  1880.  In  1888  he  was  elected  professor  of  Hebrew  and 
cognate  languages,  and  in  1892  the  title  of  his  chair  was  changed  to 
tliat  of  Semitic  philology  and  Old  Testament  history.  His  inauguration 
as  i)rofessor  took  place  May  7,  1889. 

At  this  time  the  health  of  Dr.  Mofiat  began  to  fail  seriously,  so  that 
it  was  found  necessary  to  find  an  assistant  for  him,  and  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Campbell  Armstrong  was  elected  associate  professor  of  church 
history,  September  30,  1880,  and  began  at  once  his  work  of  instruction. 
Early  in  the  following  year  he  withdrew  his  acceptance.  In  the  fall  of 
188G  the  Rev.  Dr.  Roberts  resigned  his  position  as  librarian,  which  he 
had  held  for  nine  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Heatly 
Dulles,  the  present  librarian.  The  seminary  suttered  a  serious  loss  at 
this  time  in  the  death  of  Prof.  A.  A.  Hodge,  which  occurred  November 
11,  1886.  The  vacancy  thus  created  was  filled  by  the  election  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin  Breckinridge  Warfield,  i)rofessor  in  the  Western 
Theological  Seminary,  on  January  18, 1887.  His  election  was  approved 
by  the  following  assembly  and  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  Charles 
Hodge  professorship  of  didactic  and  polemic!  theology  at  the  opening  of 
the  following  session.     He  was  inaugurated  May  8,  1888.     This  was  an 


PRINCETON    THEOLOGICAL    SEMIXAKY.  333 

era  of  faculty  changes.  Dr.  Moffat  felt  obliged  to  resign  his  cliaii-  May 
7,  1S8S,  after  twenty-seven  years  of  service.  His  resignation  was 
accepted  and  he  was  made  emeritus  i)rofessor  of  church  history.  ITe 
continued  to  conduct  courses  in  church  history  for  a  year  longer  and 
died  June  7,  1800.  In  1889  the  Rev.  Paul  Van  Dyke  was  appointed 
instructor  in  church  history  and  continued  to  give  instruction  in  that 
de])artnient  until  1892,  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  tlie  pastorate  of  the 
Edwards  Congregational  Church  of  Northampton,  Mass.  A  still  fur- 
ther change  is  to  he  noted,  due  to  the  election  of  Dr.  Patton  to  the 
presidency  of  I'rinceton  College  and  his  acceptance  of  this  position  in 
1888.  He  resigned  the  chair  of  the  relation  of  ]>liilosophy  and  science 
to  the  Christian  religion  on  .May  8, 1888,  but  he  consented  to  remain  on 
the  roll  of  the  faculty  as  lecturer  on  theism,  upon  which  sul)Ject  he  has 
given  a  course  to  the  junior  class  from  the  above  date. 

The  session  of  1891-91!  was  made  memorable  by  the  death  of  two  of 
the  seminary  professors.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  llodge  died  Sep- 
tember 27,  1891,  after  a  lingering  illness,  having  been  a  teacher  in  the 
seminary  for  thirty-one  years;  and  on  the  14th  of  the  January  follow- 
ing Dr.  Aiken  died  after  a  brief  illness,  having  served  the  seminary  for 
twenty-one  years.  The  duties  of  the  department  of  Xew  Testament  lit- 
erature and  exegesis  were  performed  for  a  yea  r  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talbot  \V. 
Chambers,  of  ISTew  York  City.  During  the  year  1892  the  three  vacant 
chairs  of  the  seminary  were  filled.  The  Rev.  Dr.  John  De  Witt,  a  [iro- 
fessor  in  McCormick  Seminary,  was  elected  to  the  Helena  i)rofessorship 
of  church  histor^^  May  3,  1892,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Rev.  Dr.  George 
Tybout  ]^nrves,  of  Pittsburg,  was  chosen  to  succeed  Dr.  Hodge  in  the 
New  Testament  department.  Dr.  Purves  had  been  elected  to  the  chair 
of  church  history  iu  1888,  but  had  not  felt  able  to  accept  the  position. 
Dr.  Purves  was  inaugurated  September  1(5,  1892,  and  J)r.  De  vVitt  on 
May  9, 1893.  Dr.  Aiken's  chair  was  tilled  by  the  election  on  October 
20,  1892,  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  P>renton  Crecne,  jr.,  of  Phihidelphia, 
who  began  his  duties  before  the  close  of  that  session,  and  was  inaugu- 
rated September  22,  1893.  In  May,  1891,  a  new  chair  had  been  estab- 
lished, that  of  biblical  theology,  and  overtures  had  been  made  to  the 
Rev.  Geerhardus  Vos,  of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  to  till  it,  but  these  failed 
at  the  time.  They  were  renewed  later  with  success,  and  Dr.  Yos  was 
elected  professor  of  biblical  theology  in  1893,  and  took  up  his  work  in 
Sei)tember  of  that  year.  He  was  inaugurated  May  8,  1894.  At  length 
after  many  vicissitudes  all  the  chairs  of  the  seminary  were  tilled.  In 
the  fall  of  1892,  in  order  that  Dr.  William  Henry  Green  might  have 
relief  from  some  of  his  arduous  duties  the  Rev.  Chalmers  .Alartin  was 
appointed  instructor  in  the  Old  Testament  department,  and  has  at 
present  the  title  of  the  Elliott  F.  Shepard  instructor  in  this  depart- 
ment.   The  faculty  of  the  institution  as  at  present  constituted  follows : 

FacuJt)/.—W  iUiam  Henry  Green,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Helena  professor  of  oriental  aud 
Old  Testament  literature;  William  Miller  Paxton,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  professor  of  eccle- 
siastical,  lioniiletical,    and  pastoral  theology;    Benjamin  Breckinridge   Warlield, 


334  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Charles  Hodge  professor  of  didactic  and  polemic  theology;  Rev.  John 
D.Davis,  Ph.D.,  professor  of  Semitic  philology  and  Old  Testament  history;  George 
Tyhout  Purves,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  professor  of  New  Testament  literature  and  exegesis; 
John  De  Witt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Archibald  Alexander  professor  of  church  history  ;  Wil- 
liam Brenton  Greene,  jr.,  D.  D.,  Stuart  professor  of  the  relations  of  philosophy  and 
science  to  the  Christian  religion ;  Geerhardus  Yos,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D.,  professor  of  biblical 
theology;  Francis  Landey  Patton,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  lecturer  on  theism;  Henry  Wilson 
Smith,  A.  M.,  J.  C.  Green  instructor  in  elocution ;  Rev.  Chalmers  Martin,  A.  M.,  Elliott 
F.  Shepard  instructor  in  the  Old  Testament  department;  Rev.  Joseph  Heatly  Dnlles^ 
A.  ^L,  librarian. 

All  event  of  great  interest  to  all  the  friends  of  the  seminary  was  the 
celebration,  in  May,  18!)6,  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  ai)point- 
luent  of  Prof.  William  Henry  Green  as  an  instrnctor  in  the  seminary. 
This  event  was  largely  attended  by  the  alnmui  of  the  institution,  by 
distinguisbed  educators,  by  rei)resentatives  of  numerous  theological 
faculties,  and  by  the  peisonal  friends  of  Dr.  Green,  and  was  ma^^ked  by 
a  higli  degree  of  enthusiasm.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  in  its 
comparatively  brief  history  the  seminary  shonld  have  been  called  upon 
thus  to  honor  two  of  its  professors. 

The  faeulty. — The  fiiculty  of  Princeton  Seminary  has  included  many 
illustrious  names,  the  names  of  men  who  have  become  famous,  not 
merely  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country, 
but  throughout  the  domain  of  evangelical  Christendom.  They  have 
fostered  and  enforced  a  type  of  theological  thought  that  has  acquired 
the  name,  well  known  in  the  theological  world,  of  Princeton  theology. 
As  we  have  already  seen,  the  seminary  started  out  on  its  career  with  one 
professor,  Dr.  Alexander.  The  next  year  he  was  joined  by  Dr.  ^Miller, 
and  in  1822  these  were  joined  by  Dr.  Charles  Hodge.  The  seminary 
owes  what  it  is  and  what  it  stands  for  to  these  three  men.  Its  growth 
has  been  the  development  of  what  they  planted  and  nurtured.  With 
additional  endowment  new  cliairs  have  been  established  and  old  ones 
subdivided,  until  now  (1897)  eight  professors,  one  lecrurer,  and  two 
instructors  constitute  the  regular  teaching  force  of  the  seminary. 
Table  A,  subjoined,  will  show  the  succession  of  professors  and  instruct- 
ors. There  are,  besides  two  permanently  endowed  lectureships:  (1) 
The  L.  P.  Stone  lectureship,  founded  in  1879  by  Mr.  Levi  P.  Stone. 
Upon  this  foundation  a  course  of  at  least  five  lectures  is  given  each 
year  by  some  distinguished  specialist.  The  most  of  these  courses  have 
been  published.  (2)  The  student's  lectureshi})  on  missions.  This  was 
established  in  1893,  mainly  as  the  result  of  an  awakened  interest  on 
the  part  of  the  students  in  the  cause  of  foreign  missions.  Fpon  this 
foundation  a  course  of  five  or  six  lectures  is  given  each  year  upon  the 
general  subject  of  foreign  missions  or  n])on  any  ])articular  branch  of 
this  subject. 

The  currieulinn. — This  was  necessarily  limited  at  first.  In  1822,  with 
its  three  professors,  the  seminaiy  was  well  established  and  was  able  to 
ofter  the  essentials  of  a  theological  education.  The  curriculum  was  by 
this  time  thoroughly  arranged,  and  com])rivSed  the  tollowing  studies: 
In  the  first  year  instruction  was  given  in  the  original  languages  of 
scripture,  sacred  chronology  and  geography,  biblical  and  profane  his- 


PRINCETON    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY.  335 

tory,  Jewisli  antiquities  and  exegetical  theology;  in  the  second  year, 
in  Biblical  criticism,  didactic  theology,  ecclesiastical  history  and 
Hebrew  (continued) ;  and  in  the  third  year,  in  didactic  theology  (con- 
tinued), polennc  theology,  ecclesiastical  history  (continued),  church 
government,  coin])osition  and  delivery  of  sermons  and  the  i)astoral 
care.  Since  that  time  there  has  been  a  process  of  subdivision,  expan- 
sion, and  addition,  by  which  the  curriculum  has  developed  to  its  present 
large  proportions.  A  study  of  Table  A  will  show  this  development. 
The  salient  features  of  it  are  the  division  of  the  study  of  the  Old  and 
a!s  ew  Testaments  by  the  erection  of  the  professorship)  of  New  Testament 
history  and  Biblical  Greek  in  18G0,  the  establishment  of  the  chair  of 
apologetics  in  1871,  that  of  the  relations  of  philosoi)hy  and  science  to 
the  Christian  religion  in  1880,  of  the  chair  of  Seniitic  philology  and 
Old  Testament  history  in  1892,  and  the  chair  <f  biblical  theology  in 
1893,  together  with  the  establislnnent  of  the  instructorship  in  elocution 
in  1878.  The  present  distribution  of  the  course  of  study  in  the  various 
years  follows: 

First  year. — Old  Testament  literature :  General  iiitioductioii,  special  introduction 
to  the  Pentateuch,  Hebrew,  sacred  geography  and  antiiiuities,  Old  Testament  his- 
tory. New  Testament  literature :  General  introduction,  8i)ecial  introduction  to  the 
Gospels,  exegesis  of  selected  Epistles  of  Paul.  Didactic  theology:  Theology 
proper.  Relations  of  philosophy  and  science  to  the  Christian  religion :  Theism, 
theological  encyclopedia,  general  introduction  to  apologetics.    Homiletics,  elocution. 

Second  year. — Old  Testament:  Unity  of  the  book  of  Genesis,  special  introduction 
to  the  hivstorical  and  poetical  books,  exegesis,  biblical  theology.  New  Testament: 
Life  of  Christ  and  exegesis  of  the  Gospels.  Didactic  theology:  Anthropology. 
Relations  of  philosophy  and  science  to  the  Christian  religion:  Evidences  of 
Christianity.  Church  history.  Government  and  discipline  of  the  church.  Homi- 
letics: Criticisms  of  sermons,  elocution.     Missions. 

Third  year. — Old  Testament:  Special  introduction  to  tlie  prophets,  exegesis.  New 
Testament:  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  special  introduction  to  the  Epistles,  biblical  the- 
ology. Didactic  theology  :  Soteriology  and  eschatology.  Churcli  history.  Relations 
of  philosophy  and  science  to  the  Christian  religion:  Christian  ethics  and  Christian 
sociology.  Church  government  and  discijdine;  pastoral  care;  ordinances  of  wor- 
ship; homiletical  criticism  and  analysis  of  texts;  elocution.     Missions. 

Fourth  year. — The  regular  course  is  completed  in  three  years,  but  students  may 
with  great  advantage  continue  to  prosecute  their  studies  in  the  seminary  for  a  longer 
period.  It  is  not  thought  best  to  prescribe  a  fixed  course  of  study  for  graduates. 
Each  is  at  liberty  to  devote  himself  to  those  branches  of  theological  learning  for 
which  he  has  the  greatest  aptitude,  or  which  he  .judges  to  be  most  necessary  or 
prolitable  to  himself.  Accordingly  graduate  students  may  at  their  discretion  attend 
the  lectures  and  recitations  of  the  regular  classes  for  the  review  of  their  previous 
studies,  or  they  may  make  a  selection  from  the  extracuriiculum  courses  which  are 
provided  in  each  department,  or  they  may  individually  conduct  original  investiga-. 
tions  under  the  directiim  and  with  the  advice  of  the  professors  and  with  the  aid  of 
the  library. 

The  hours  assigned  the  various  subjects  are  as  follows: 

The  junior  class  has  each  week  five  exercises  in  Hebrew,  one  in  introduction  to 
the  Old  Testament  and  archaeology,  one  in  Old  Testament  history,  one  in  introduc- 
tion to  the  New  Testament,  one  in  exegesis  of  Paul's  Epistles,  two  in  didactic 
theology,  two  in  theism,  oue  in  apologetics,  one  in  homiletics.  and  one  in  elccution. 

The  middle  class  has  one  exercise  a  week  in  introduction  to  the  Old  Testament, 


336  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

two  in  exegesis  of  tlie  Psalms,  two  in  biblical  theology  of  the  Old  Testament,  two 
in  the  life  of  Christ  and  exegesis  of  the  Gospels,  three  in  church  history,  two  in 
didactic  theology,  one  in  evidences  of  Christianity,  two  in  homiletics  and  church 
government,  one  in  elocution,  and  on  alternate  years  one  in  missions. 

The  senior  class  has  one  exercise  a  week  in  introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  and 
one  in  exegesis  of  the  prophets,  two  in  apostolic  history  and  exegesis  of  the  Epistles, 
two  in  biblical  theology  of  the  New  Testament,  three  in  church  history,  two  in 
didactic  theology,  two  in  Christian  ethics  and  Christian  sociology,  two  in  homiletics 
and  pastoral  theology,  one  in  elocution,  and  on  alternate  years  one  in  missions. 

A  number  of  extracurriculum  courses  are  giveu  by  the  professors  of 
the  seminary  and  by  some  of  the  professors  of  the  university.  It  will 
be  in  place  to  mention  here  the  fellowships  and  prizes  open  to  the  stu- 
dents. There  are  two  fellowships — one  in  Old  Testament  study  and 
one  in  New  Testament  study.  The  holder  of  either  is  expected  to  spend 
at  least  one  year  in  the  further  study  of  his  subject,  under  the  direction 
of  the  faculty,  either  in  Princeton  or  in  some  approved  foreign  univer- 
sity. The  Hebrew  fellowship  was  founded  by  the  Hon.  George  S. 
Green  and  yields  $000  a  year.  At  present  the  New  Testament  fellow- 
ship is  a  combination  of  the  alumni  fellowship  and  the  Archibald 
Robertson  scholarship  and  yields  the  same  amount.  The  several 
Biblical  prizes  are  as  follows : 

Those  offered  by  the  family  of  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Carter:  $50  worth 
of  books  will  be  presented  to  that  member  of  the  senior  class  who  shall 
prepare  the  best  thesis  on  an  assigned  subject  in  Old  Testament  lit- 
erature or  exegesis.  The  second  and  third  in  merit  will  each  be  pre- 
sented with  $10  worth  of  books. 

The  Rev.  Horace  C.  Stanton,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D.,  an  alumnus  of  the  semi- 
nary, has  founded  the  Benjamin  Stanton  ])rize  in  memory  of  his  father, 
which  is  open  to  competition  to  members  of  the  mitldle  class:  850  will 
be  awarded  for  the  best  thesis  on  an  assigned  subject  in  Old  Testament 
literature  or  exegesis. 

Messrs.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons  offer  $50  worth  of  their  publications 
to  that  member  of  the  senior  class  who  shall  prepare  the  best  thesis  on 
an  assigned  subject  in  New  Testament  literature  or  exegesis.  The 
second  and  third  in  merit  will  each  be  presented  with  $10  worth  ot 
their  publications. 

Mr.  Alexander  Maitland,  of  New  York,  has  founded  the  Robert  L. 
Maitland  prize  in  memory  of  his  father,  which  is  open  to  competitioa 
to  members  of  the  middle  class:  $100  will  be  given  for  the  best  exege-^ 
sis  of  a  passage  in  the  New  Testament,  and  $50  for  the  second  in  merit. 

In  the  present  year  (1897)  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
l)assed  a  general  law  authorizing  any  theological  seminary  in  the  State 
to  confer  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  divinity.  This  was  done  at  the 
instance  of  Princeton  Seminary.  In  this  seminary  the  degree  will  be 
conferred  on  a  bachelor  of  arts  of  any  college  approved  by  the  facnltj'^ 
who  shall  also  have  completed  a  three  years'  course  of  theological 
study  in  any  similarly  api)roved  institution,  or  in  this  seminary,  and  a 
one  year's  course  of  extra-curriculum  study  in  theology  at  this  semi- 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  337 

nary.    This  coarse  of  special  study  shall  be  aiTauy;ed  and  the  exam 
inations  shall  be  conducted  by  the  faculty  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
directors. 

Tlie  library. — One  of  the  articles  of  the  original  plan  of  the  seminary 
submitted  to  the  assembly  of  1811  was  headed  "of  the  library."  This 
article  was  not  acted  upon  by  this  assembl}^  being  deferred  for  later 
consideration.  The  library  was  not  a  creation  of  the  assembly,  but 
was  the  product  of  the  energy  and  interest  of  the  individual  professors 
and  directors.  The  directors  at  their  meetings  in  July  and  October, 
1812,  took  steps  for  the  establishment  of  a  library  and  nnide  a  small 
appropriation  for  the  purchase  of  books.  As  a  result  lii  books  were 
X)urchased  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent extensive  collection,  numbering  more  than  58,000  bound  volumes 
and  21,000  pamphlets.  Dnriug  recent  years  its  growth  has  been  at  the 
rate  of  about  a  thousand  volumes  a  year.  While  possessed  of  a  few 
rare  and  valuable  works,  it  is  in  the  main  a  practical  working  library, 
and  as  such  will  bear  comparison  with  the  best  of  the  theological 
libraries  of  this  country.  Up  to  1877  its  afiairs  were  managed  by  one 
of  the  professors,  Drs,  Archibald  Alexander,  William  Henry  Green, 
and  Charles  A.  Aiken  serving  as  librarians  until  that  year,  when  the 
Rev.  Dr.  W.  H.  Eoberts  was  elected  to  that  office.  The  present  librarian, 
the  Eev.  J.  H,  Dulles,  succeeded  Dr.  Eoberts  in  1880.  The  library  was 
kept  for  the  first  seven  years  in  the  residence  of  Dr.  Alexander.  In 
the  fall  of  1819  it  was  moved  to  a  room  prepared  for  it  in  the  seminary 
building  now  known  as  Alexander  Hall.  In  1843  it  was  transferred  to 
a  building  erected  for  it  by  the  generosity  of  James  Lenox,  esij.,  now 
known  as  the  old  library.  This  having  become  insufficient  to  accom- 
modate the  growing  collection,  Mr.  Lenox  erected  a  new  building,  to 
which  the  main  body  of  the  books  was  transferred  in  1879.  The  two 
buildings  ofter  shelf  room  for  some  130,000  volumes.  The  entire  work- 
ing library  is  in  the  new  building.  There  is  an  annual  income  for  the 
purchase  of  books  of  $1,450  and  of  $500  for  bookbinding. 

The  students. — As  has  been  seen  the  seminary  started  with  3  students 
in  the  summer  of  1812,  the  number  increasing  to  14  before  the  first 
year  closed.  The  growth  has  been  steady  and  constant,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  fluctuations  due  to  special  causes.  In  the  year  1858-59 
92  students  matriculated.  In  the  year  previous  only  40  had  entered. 
The  widespread  revival  of  religion  that  swept  over  the  country  in  1857 
probably  accounts  for  the  above  large  number.  It  remained  the  high 
watermark  until  the  year  1892-93,  when  105  entered.  The  highest 
number  in  the  history  of  the  seminary  entered  in  the  year  1894-95, 
namely,  115,  although  but  1  less  marks  the  current  year,  1890-97.  The 
year  1894-95  also  shows  the  largest  number  of  students  gathered  in 
the  seminary  at  one  time,  203.  The  whole  number  of  students  who 
have  matriculated  since  its  establishment  is  4,711.  The  wide  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  those  who  come  to  the  seminary  may  be  seen 
from  the  statement  that  the  253  in  the  institution  this  current  year 
20087— Xo.  23 22 


338  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW   JERSEY. 

come  from  29  States  ami  Territories  of  our  own  country  and  10  foreign 
lands.  While  many  colleges  have  sent  their  sons  to  Princeton  Semi- 
nary more  than  one-fifth  of  its  students  liave  come  from  its  sister  insti- 
tution in  Princeton,  showing  that  the  intention  of  the  founders  of  the 
latter  to  train  youth  for  the  ministry  has  not  been  frustrated.  An 
exhibit  of  the  growth  of  the  seminary  in  students  is  given  in  Table  B. 

Student  societies. — It  has  been  found  impossible  to  trace  all  of  these 
with  historical  accuracy.  They  are  important  as  illustrating  the  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  life  of  the  students. 

The  Theological  Society  was  established  by  Dr.  Alexander  and  eight 
others  August  29,  1812,  live  of  whom  were  students.  The  object  of  the 
society  was  mutual  improvement  in  theology  and  kindred  subjects.  At 
first  two  meetings  a  week  were  held.  On  Tuesday  evening  orations 
were  delivered  memoriter,  and  on  Friday  evening  there  were  debates 
on  theological,  historical,  ecclesiastical,  or  ethical  subjects,  and  essays 
on  various  texts  of  scripture.  It  was  well  sustained  for  many  years; 
indeed,  at  first  it  was  regarded  almost  as  a  part  of  the  curriculum. 
There  are  records  of  its  meetings  as  late  as  1859.  In  October  of  that 
year  it  united  with  the  Society  of  Inquiry  to  form  the  Alexander 
Society.  As  first  organized  the  new  society  had  for  its  object  "the 
l^romotion  of  the  spirit  of  inquiry  after  truth,  of  skill  in  presenting  and 
maintaining  it,  and  the  information  of  members  upon  matters  of  relig- 
ious and  general  intelligence."  It  was  mainly  a  debating  club.  It  held, 
however,  a  monthly  concert  for  prayer  for  missions,  besides  its  weekly 
Friday  evening  literary  meeting.  Two  years  later  the  interesting  fea- 
ture was  added  of  holding  on  alternate  Fridays  a  moot  ecclesiastical 
court  for  the  trial  of  imaginary  cases  of  church  discipline.  The  society 
also  sustained  a  reading  room,  where  papers  and  magazines  \\ere  kept 
for  the  use  of  its  members.  But  its  course  was  soon  run.  The  library, 
which  it  had  inherited  from  the  older  societies  by  whose  union  it  was 
formed,  was  in  1803  given  to  the  seminary,  and  after  1865  it  became 
simply  a  reading-room  association.  In  its  earlier  days  an  annual  ser- 
mon was  preached  before  it  on  the  last  Sunday  evening  of  the  semi- 
nary year.  This  sermon  continued  to  be  delivered  for  a  long  time,  but 
its  connection  with  the  Alexander  Society  was  forgotten.  The  Alex- 
ander Society  seems  to  have  expired  in  the  fall  of  1877. 

Two  other  societies  formed  in  the  early  days  of  the  seminary,  appar- 
ently to  eke  out  the  curriculum,  were  the  Society  for  Improvement  in 
the  Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons  and  the  Society  for  Improve- 
ment in  Biblical  Literature.  At  the  meetings  of  the  former  the  pro- 
fessors presided,  and  at  those  of  the  latter  the  assistant  teacher  of  the 
original  languages  of  Scripture  was  the  standing  president.  The  latter 
society  was  organized  by  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  about  the  year  1822. 
Both  these  societies  were  short-lived. 

There  was  another  organization,  which  is  said  to  have  existed  in  the 
seminary  from  1828  to  1845.  It  was  called  the  "  Brotherhood,"  and  its 
proceedings  were  entirely  secret.  The  condition  of  membership  was 
"an  express  determination  on  the  part  of  an   aiqdicant  for  admission 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  339 

of  bis  purpose  to  devote  himself,  should  his  life  be  spared,  to  labor  in 
the  foreign  held."  When  a  member  left  for  his  foreign  station  he  was 
to  transmit  to  the  Brotherhood  a  written  account  of  his  early  history 
and  religious  life,  which  documents  were  to  be  preserved.  There  are 
but  scanty  notices  of  this  society.  During  the  first  thirty  years  of  the 
history  of  the  seminary  there  seems  to  have  been  a  special  interest  in 
the  subject  of  foreign  missions.  This  interest  led  to  the  ibrmation  as 
early  as  1814  of  the  Society  of  Incpiiry  respecting  Missions  and  the  State 
of  Religion.  For  many  years  this  society  was  an  active  force  in  the 
seminary.  Meetings  were  held  once  a  month,  and  were  at  tirst  princi- 
pally for  the  communication  of  missionary  intelligence.  Later  the  pro- 
ceedings included  debates  and  reports  by  committees  on  missionary 
subjects.  In  1831  there  was  a  reorganization  of  the  society  which  wid- 
ened its  scope  to  include  matters  pertaining  to  foreign  missions,  domes- 
tic missions.  Sabbath  schools,  and  Bible  societies.  Essays  on  a  broad 
range  of  subjects  were  presented.  The  society  appears  to  have  gradu- 
ally lost  its  hold  on  the  students,  and  it  was  united  in  1859,  as  we  have 
seen,  with  the  Theological  Societj^  to  form  the  Alexander  Society. 

The  last  of  the  societies  that  belong  to  the  first  half  of  the  life  of  the 
seminary  is  the  Religious  Contribution  Society.  It  is  a  remnant  of 
earlier  organizations.  In  1839  the  tract  and  Bible  societies  of  the 
seminary,  which  had  separated  from  those  of  the  college  in  1832  and' 
1833,  respectively,  united  with  another  whose  object  was  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  tracts  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  and  under- 
took in  addition  the  collection  of  donations  to  foreign  missions.  This 
association  Mas  called  the  Association  for  Benevolent  Purposes.  In 
1843  the  name  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Mission,  Bible,  and  Tract 
Society;  in  1847  the  word  "education"  was  added  to  the  title,  and  in 
1859  it  received  the  name  of  the  Religious  Contribution  Society.  Its 
alfairs  were  conducted  by  a  board  of  managers,  who  had  control  of  the 
collection  and  distribution  of  its  benevolent  funds,  which  were  divided 
among  the  boards  of  the  church  and  the  American  Bible  Society.  In 
the  spring  of  1878  it  became  the  Theological  Society,  reviving  the  name 
of  the  society  described  above.  The  new  society  was  disbanded  April 
2,  1884,  and  re-formed  April  11  of  the  same  year  with  a  new  constitu- 
tion and  a  changed  purpose,  becoming  literary  and  forensic  in  its  scope. 
It  had  a  brief  existence  in  this  form,  being  disbanded  apparently  at 
the  close  of  1885.  About  that  time  there  seems  to  have  been  a  revival 
of  the  Religious  Contribution  Society,  which  still  exists  and  carries  out 
its  original  intention  of  collecting  and  forwarding  to  the  boards  of  the 
church  the  contributions  of  the  students  and  professors.  P'or  a  short 
time  it  was  simply  a  committee  of  the  revived  Theological  Society. 
But  the  committee  survived  the  society.  There  are  now  in  the  semi- 
nary, besides  the  Religious  Contribution  Society,  the  Missionary  Society, 
whose  affairs  are  controlled  by  a  committee  of  seven,  together  with  a 
member  of  the  faculty,  and  which  has  charge  of  the  missionary  meet- 
ings of  the  students;  the  Sociological  institute,  established  in  1S94, 
whose  object  is  "to  acquaint  students  of  the  seminary  with  the  existing 


340  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

conditions  of  society,  so  far  as  it  affects  the  work  of  tbe  church,  and  to 
afiord  opportunity  for  the  discussion  of  the  religious  aspects  of  current 
social  problems;"  the  Religious  Work  Comuiittee,  and  the  Missionary 
Prayer  Circle.  It  should  be  added  that  the  seminary  has  always  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Inter-Seminary  Missionary 
Alliance. 

The  campvs.— On  the  11th  of  May,  1812,  Mr.  Eichard  Stockton,  of 
Princeton,  wrote  to  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  offering  to  convey  to  the  semi- 
nary a  plot  of  land  about  2  acres  in  size,  on  condition  that  the  seminary 
be  located  at  Princeton.  He  stated  that  the  land  was  worth  1500.  This 
offer  seems  to  have  been  increased  to  4  acres  soon  after,  for  the  directors 
report  to  the  general  assembly  of  1813  such  an  enlarged  offer.  But 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  formal  transfer  of  any  laud  by  Mr.  Stockton 
to  the  seminary  until  1815,  when  he  conveyed  to  the  institution  a  tract 
of  7  acres  for  the  sum  of  $800.  This  constituted  the  original  campus, 
on  which  the  first  seminary  building  was  erected.  This,  now  known  as 
Alexander  Hall,  was  begun  in  1815.  In  1817,  being  about  half  com- 
pleted, it  was  first  occupied,  and  several  years  later  it  was  finished. 
Besides  the  rooms  for  the  students,  it  contained  the  original  refectory, 
the  library,  the  recitation  rooms,  and  accommodations  lor  the  steward 
and  his  family.  Subsequent  additions  were  made  to  the  extent  of  the 
campus  in  1820,  1843,  1850,  and  1877,  until  it  now  contains  about  18 
acres.  It  is  occupied  by  the  following  buildings:  (1)  Alexander  Hall, 
already  mentioned;  (2)  the  Miller  Chapel,  built  in  1831;  (3)  the  "Old 
Library,"  1843;  (4)  the  refectory,  1847;  a  gymnasium  was  erected  in 
1859  but  was  torn  down  in  1892  to  make  way  for  Hodge  Hall;  (5)  Brown 
Hall,  the  second  dormitory,  presented  by  Mrs.  Isabella  Brown,  of  Bal- 
timore, 1865;  (6)  Stuart  Hall,  containing  the  recitation  rooms  and  the 
modern  oratory,  the  gift  of  Messrs.  E,  L.  and  A.  Stuart,  of  New  York 
City,  1876;  (7)  the  "New  Library,"  like  the  old  one,  the  gift  of  Mr. 
James  Lenox,  of  New  York,  1879;  (8)  Hodge  Hall,  erected  out  of  the 
legacy  left  the  seminary  by  Mrs.  E.  L.  Stuart,  of  New  York,  1893,  and 
eight  houses 'for  the  use  of  the  i)rofessors. 

Endowment. — The  struggle  for  existence  in  the  early  days  of  the 
seminary  was  severe.  When  it  was  10  years  old  the  entire  permanent 
endowment  was  $18,000.  As  it  proved  its  right  to  exist  and  demon- 
strated its  usefulness,  friends  came  to  its  rescue,  of  whom  particular 
mention  may  be  made  of  Mr.  James  Lenox,  Mr.  John  C.  Green  and  the 
executors  of  his  estate,  Mrs.  Isabella  Brown,  and  the  Messrs.  E.  L. 
and  A.  Stuart,  and  the  widow  of  the  former.  The  present  endowment, 
as  reported  to  the  general  assembly  of  1896,  is:  . 

Real  estate $506, 150 

Geueral  endowment 443,  044 

Scholarship  fund 269, 229 

Lectureship  fund 15,  000 

Special  f uiids 612,  005 

Lihrary  fund 60,  000 

From  this  there  is  a  total  inconie  of  $81,407.  There  are  ninety-nine 
scholarships  founded  for  the  assistance  of  needy  students. 


PRINCETON    THEOLO(iICAL    SEMINARY. 


341 


Taisle  a. — The  faculty. 


Name  aud  curriculuui. 


Elected. 


Resipned 
or  dfed. 


PROFESSORS. 

ArchiV)ald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

UidactK-  and  i)olciiiic  lli('oli)n:y. 
1840.  Pastoral  and  )ioliiiiic  theology. 

1851.  Pastoral  and  polemic  Uii-olojjy  aud  church  ffoverniuent. 
Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.    LL.  1) ." 

Ecclesiastical  liislory  and  church  government. 

1849.  Emeritus  prot'cssor. 

Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  LL.  I) 

Oriental  and  Jliblical  literatiiie. 
1840.  Exegetical  and  didactic  tlu'olo^ry. 
1854.  Exe^ietical,  didactic,  and  iioleiiiic  theologj-. 
1874.  Charles  Hodgi^  luofessor  ot  exegetical,  didactic,  and  polemic  theology. 

John  Breckinridge,  D.  I) 

Pastoral  theology  and  inissiouary  instruction. 

Joseph  Addisou  Alexander,  I).  I)  .   .■. ". 

Associate  iirote.s.sor  of  Oriental  aud  Biblical  literature  (accepted  18:!8). 
1840.  Oriental  aud  Bil.lical  literature. 
1851.  Bitdical  ami  ecclesiastical  liistorv. 
1859.  Hellenistic  and  New  'I'estaiuent  literature. 

James  Waddell  Alexander,  I).  1) 

Ecclesiastical  history  and  church  government,  and  in  addition  — 

1850.  Coui])osition  and  delivery  of  sermons. 

William  Henry  Gieeu,  D.D.,  LL.  D 

Biblical  and  (truntal  literature. 
1859.  Oriental  and  Old  '1  estament  literature. 

Alexander  Tasgart/Mct; ill,  D.D.,  LL.D 

Pastoral  tlieolngy,  church  government,  aud  the  composition  and  deliv- 
ery of  sermons. 

1859.  Church  history  and  jiractical  theology. 

1860.  Ecclesiastical  history  and  cbuicli  government. 

1861.  Ecclesiastical,  liomiletic,  and  pastoral  the(dogy. 

1883.  Emeritus  professor  of  ecclesiastical,  liomiletic,  and  pastoial  theology. 

Caspar  Wistar  Hodge,  D.  D  ,  LL.  I) 

New  'testament  history  and  Biblical  Greek. 
1879    New  Testament  literature  and  exegesis. 

James  Clement  MoHat,  D.  D 

Helena  professor  of  church  history. 
1888.  Emeritus  professor  of  churcli  history. 

Charles  Augustus  Aiken.  D.  D.,  Ph.  D 

Archibald  Akxander  professor  of  Christian  etbics  and  aiiologetiis. 
1882.  Professorof  Oriental  and  Old  Testament  literature  and  Clinstian  ethics. 
1888.  Stuart  professor  of    the  relations   ol  philosophy  and   scienie  to  the 
Christian  religion. 

Archihald  Alexander  Hodge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

Associate  professor  of  exegetical.  didactic,  anil  iioleuiic  theology. 
1879.  Charles  Hodge  professorof  didactic  and  iiolemic  theidogy. 

Francis  Landey  Patton,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

Stuart  professor  of  the  relations  of  i)hilosop)iy  aud  .science  to  the 
Christian  religion. 
1888.  Lecturer  on  theism. 

William  Miller  Paxi  on,  D.  1).,  LL  D 

Profes.sor  of  ecclesiastical,  homiletical,  and  pastoral  theology. 

Rev.  Andrew  Campbell  Armstrong,. fr.,  A.  M 

Associate  professor-elect  of  cbiindi  history. 

Benjamin  Breckinridge  Warticld.  D.  D.,  LL.  D ■- - • 

Charles  Hodge  professor  of  didactic  and  polemic  theology. 

Eev.  John  D.Davis.  Ph   D -• 

Professorof  Hebrew  and  cognate  languages. 
1892.  Professor  of  Semitic  philology  and  Old  Testament  history. 

George  Tvbout  Puives.  D.  D 

Professor  of  New  TestamenJ;  literature  and  exegesis. 

John  De  Witt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

Archibald  Alexander  jirofessor  of  church  history. 

William  Brenton  Greene, .jr.,  D.  D ,••-•: ,•■ 

Stuart  jirotessor  of  the  relations  of  philosophy  and  science  to  the 
Christian  religion. 

Geerhardus  Vos,  Ph.  D..  D.  D 

Professor  of  Biblical  theology. 

INSTRICTORS. 

Charle.s  Hodge ■ 

Original  languages  of  Scripture. 
John  Williamson  Nfevin 

Hebrew. 
Joseph  Addison  Alexander ■ 

Oriental  and  Biblical  literature. 
Austin  ( fsgood  H u bba rd 

Hebrew. 


1812 

1813 
1822 

1835 
1835 

1849 
1851 
1854 

1860 
1801 
1871 


1851 

1850 
1878 

1838 
1860 


1877 

1886 

1880 

1888 

18.S3 

1880 

1887 

1887 

1888 

1892 

1892 

189'V 

1893 

1820 

:822 

1826 

- 

1828 

1833 

1838 

1833 

1834 

342  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

Table  A. — The faculti) — Contiiiut-d. 


Name  and  curriculum. 


Bted. 

Resigned 
or  died. 

1838 

1839 

1846 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1867 

1868 

1873 

1882 

1878 

1883 

1888 

1889 

1892 

189? 

iNSTRUCTOKs— continued. 

Melanctlion  W.  Jacobus 

Hebrew. 
William  Henrj-  Green 

Hebrew. 
A  braliani  Gosnian 

Hebrew. 
John  M.  Linn 

Hebrew. 

James  Frederick  McCurdy,  Ph.  I) 

L.  P.  Stone  tntor  of  Hebrew  and  assistant  librarian. 

1877.  J.G.  Green  instructor  in  Hebrew  and  other  Oriental  languages 
Henry  W.  Smith,  A.  M 

j!  C.  Green  instructor  in  elocution. 
Eev.John  D.Davis,  Ph.  D 

J.  C.  Green  instructor  in  Hebrew  (1884-1886). 
Kev.  Paul  van  Dyke,  A.  M 

Instructoi  in  church  history. 
Kev.  Chalmers  Martin,  A.  M 

Instructor  in  the  Old  Testament  department. 


Tablk  B. — Class,  number  matriculated,  etc. 


Class  of— 

Matricu- 
lated. 

Dead. 

Class  of — 

Matricu- 
lated. 

Dead. 

1812  13  

14 
18 
15 
23 
27 
22 
34 
18 
27 
39 
58 
62 
46 
45 
42 
49 
62 
41 
61 
76 
64 
48 
63 
58 
60 
43 
36 
58 
39 
49 
44 
45 
GO 
04 

'oS 

59 
55 
65 
42 

47 
43 
49 

14 

18 

15 

23 

27 

22 

34 

28 

27 

39 

58 

62  i 

46 

44 

42 

49 

61 

37 

CI 

70 

43 

64 

53 

50 

38  , 

34 

50 

31 

37 

33 

33 

44 

43 

44 

38 

31 

37 

42 

25 

19 

16 

19 

1855  56     

43 
48 
49 
92 
63 
46 
73 
77 
67 
63 
53 
53 
42 
49 
43 
61 
39 
54 
40 
52 
48 
42 
52 
47 
48 
51 
62 
55 
67 
64 
68 
75 
75 
70 
73 
78 
91 
105 
102 
115 
102 
114 

22 

1813  14  

1856  57 

18 

\g\4   15  

1857  58  

18 

]«15  16  

1838  59    

29 

1816  17  

1859  60  

20 

1817  18 

1860  61  

13 

1818  19 

1861  62    

16 

1819  20 

1862  63      

21 

1 820-2 1  

186j  64  .    . 

14 

1821-22  

1864  65      

12 

1822-23  

1865  66 

9 

1823-24  

1806  67      

10 

1824-25  

1867  68  

11 

lS25-2(i 

1868  69  

10 

1826  27  

1869  70  

10 

1827-28  

1870  71  

6 

1828-20  

1871  72  

6 

1829-30  

1872  73  

6 

]8;'.0  31 

1873  74 

6 

1831-32  

1874-75  

3 

1 832-33  

1875  76 

4 

1833-34  

1876  77 

5 

1834-:i5 

1877  78   

5 

1835-36  

1878  79   .  . 

1836-37  

1879  80 

3 

1837-38 

1880  81  

9 

l8:;8-39 

1881  82   

1 

1839-40  

1882  83  

5 

1810  41  

1883-84  

1884  85 

1 

1841  42  

4, 

1842-43  

1885  86  

2 

1843-44 

1886  87 

2 

1844-45  

1887  ^8 

6 

]84.")-46 

1888  89 

6 

1816  47  

1889-90  

1890-91 

1891-92  

1892-93  

1803  94  

1 

1847-18 

4 

1848-49  

2 

1849-.50 

2 

1850-51  

1 

lKnl-52 

1894  95 

0 

1852-53  

189.5-96 

1890-97  

0 

lK.i3-.54 

1854-55  

0 

"Whole  number  of  students 

Di'ad 

Li  viuiT 


4,711 
1.989 
2,722 


Chapter  XIV. 

DREW    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY. 


The  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  located  at  .Madison,  iT.  J.,  took  its 
rise  tioui  tlie  movement  initiated  to  celebrate  the  centennial  anniver- 
sary of  the  iutrodnction  of  the  Methodist  Church  into  America  in  176G. 
In  many  parts  of  the  Tnited  States  efforts  were  made  to  found  or  endow 
churches  and  institutions  of  learning  in  memory  of  this  great  historical 
event.  The  establishment  of  this  seminary  was  also  a  step  in  con- 
formity with  the  efforts  put  forth  by  many  of  the  most  able  and  pro- 
gressive leaders  of  the  denomination  to  provide  better  means  for  the 
training  of  the  clergy.  Stiange  as  it  now  seems,  there  were,  even  as 
late  as  the  founding  of  the  Drew  Seminary,  many  able  and  influential 
Methodist  ministers  who  advocated  "God-made"  in  distinction  from 
"man-made"'  ministers.  It  needed  some  courage  and  nnich  determi- 
nation to  plan  and  inaugurate  a  seminary  for  the  education  of  young 
ministers.  But  all  obstacles  were  at  last  removed  except  that  of  find- 
ing the  means  to  build  and  endow  it. 

At  this  critical  point  of  time  Mr.  Daniel  Drew,  a  wealthy  broker  of 
New  York,  stepped  forward  and  announced  his  willingness  to  furnish 
the  needed  funds.  He  proposed  to  contribute  ><500,000,  of  which  one- 
half  should  be  used  to  provide  buildings  and  grounds  and  the  remain- 
ing half  to  serve  as  an  endowment.  It  was  the  wish  of  Mr.  Drew,  as 
well  as  of  the  most  active  friends  of  the  enterprise  among  the  ministry, 
to  establish  this  seminary  in  some  place  not  far  from  New  York  City. 
Fortunately  there  occurred  at  this  time  an  opportunity  to  purchase  the 
extensive  mansion  and  grounds  which  had  been  the  country  residence 
of  Mr.  William  Gibbons.  Mr.  Gibbons  having  died,  his  son  was  willing 
to  sell  the  estate.  The  house,  now  known  as  Mead  Hall,  was  very 
large  and  was  well  fitted  to  the  purposes  of  a  seminary.  Other  neces- 
sary buildings  were  erected  and  the  school  was  opened  in  November, 
1867.  Rev.  J.  McClinfock,  D.  D,,  was  appointed  president,  and  the 
organization  of  the  institution,  together  with  the  plans  of  study  and  the 
departments  of  instruction,  were  chiefly  the  work  of  his  hands.  He 
died,  however,  early  in  1870,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by 
Eev.  E.  S.  Foster,  D.  D.,  who  after  two  years  was  elected  a  bishop  of 


1  Address  of  Dr.  Crooks  at  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  Drew  Theological 
Seminary. 


343 


344  HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION    IN    NEW    JERSEY. 

tlic  Methodist  Church.  Then  Eev.  J.  F.  Hurst,  D.  D.,  was  maile  presi- 
deut,  but  in  1880  he,  too,  was  elected  bishop,  and  Dr.  H.  A.  Buttz  suc- 
ceeded him  as  president. 

The  seminary  has  had  during  its  history  a  notable  succession  of  able 
men  in  its  professorships.  Aside  from  the  presidents  named  above,  an 
unusual  number  of  able  men  have  been  connected  with  the  faculty. 
Among  these  are  Dr.  Nadal,  Dr.  James  Strong,  Dr.  Kidder,  Dr.  S.  F. 
Upham,  and  ])r.  G.  H.  Crooks.  The  departments  of  instruction  are: 
Systematic  theology,  practical  theology,  historical  theology,  Hebrew 
and  Old  Testament  exegesis,  New  Testament  exegesis,  Biblical  litera- 
ture and  the  exegesis  of  the  English  Bible.  These  correspond  nearly  to 
the  arrangement  of  studies  in  other  Protestant  theological  seminaries. 

The  scholastic  equipments  have  gradually  been  increased  until  now 
they  are  notably  good.  The  library  contains  among  its  collections  the 
Creamer  collection  of  hymnology,  a  rare  collection  of  manuscripts  of 
the  New  Testament,  a  superb  collection  of  Methodistica,  numbering 
more  than  7,000  volumes  and  3,000  pamphlets.  Most  promising  prog- 
ress has  been  made  in  works  on  archteology  and  bibliography. 

The  buildings  and  grounds  of  the  seminary  are  extensive  and  pic- 
turesquely beautiful.  The  park  consists  of  95  acres  of  ground,  which 
was  formerly  the  Gibbons  estate.  The  original  mansion,  now  named 
Mead  Hall,  contains  the  chapel,  lecture  rooms,  and  offices  of  the  pro- 
fessors. Asbury  Hall  contains  72  rooms  for  students.  Embury  Hall 
contains  the  dining  room,  matron's  apartments,  and  the  residence  for 
the  janitor;  Cornell  library  building  contains  the  seminary  library  and 
reading  rooms;  the  Hoyt-Browue  Hall  contains  single  rooms  for  100 
students,  and  also  a  parlor,  reception  room,  etc.  Besides  these  public 
buildings  there  are  also  upon  the  grounds  private  residences  for  the 
several  i)rofessors. 

In  1876  Mr.  Drew  failed  in  business  and  involved  in  his  downfall  to 
some  extent  the  seminary  which  he  had  founded.  The  endowment  of 
$250,000  which  he  had  set  apart  for  its  support  had  not  been  paid  over 
to  the  trustees,  but  was  retained  by  him  in  his  business  and  the  interest 
annually  contributed.  Hence,  upon  his  failure  the  entire  income  was 
sacrificed. 

The  seminary  was  reduced  to  a  most  distressing  condition.  Many  of 
its  friends  were  very  much  discouraged.  But  the  i)resident,  who  at 
this  time  Avas  Dr.  Hurst,  undertook  with  splendid  courage  to  make 
good  the  loss.  He  canvassed  the  church  thoroughly  and  faithfully, 
and  not  only  secured  the  amount  lost,  but  obtained,  it  is  said,  not  less 
than  $300,000.  Since  that  time  the  seminary  has  made  constant  prog- 
ress, and  is  now  in  a  most  satisfactory  condition. 


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